Departmental Campaigns

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on  (a) all environmental campaigns,  (b) the Tomorrow's Climate, Today's Challenge (TCTC) campaign and  (c) the Tomorrow's England initiative funded by the TCTC budget, in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) Defra was created in June 2001. Since then, Defra has funded various environmental campaigns through the core Department and key delivery partners. The costs are as follows:
	
		
			  Defra spend on combined environmental campaigns including delivery partners( 1) 
			   Expenditure (£000) 
			 2000-01 18,864 
			 2001-02 12,058 
			 2002-03 11,275 
			 2003-04 14,814 
			 2004-05 22,144 
			 2005-06 25,137 
			 (1) Includes activity from Environment Agency, Envirowise, WRAP, Encams, Carbon Trust, Energy Saving Trust. 
		
	
	 (b) The Climate Change Communications Initiative was launched in December 2005 and used the slogan Tomorrow's Climate, Today's Challenge as its campaign branding. The costs to date are as follows:
	
		
			  Defra spend on the Climate Change Communications Initiative 
			   Expenditure (£000) 
			 2005-06 1,150 
			 2006-07(1) 4,505 
			 (1) To date. 
		
	
	 (c) The Tomorrow's England project started in September 2006 is one of 83 projects funded fromthe Challenge Fund element of the Climate Change Communications Initiative. Funding for this project in 2006-07 was £35,232.

Departmental Campaigns

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the annual  (a) resource costs,  (b) capital expenditure costs and  (c) staffing costs were of each environment campaign promoted by the Government at today's prices in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Defra was created in June 2001. Since then, Defra has funded various environmental campaigns through the core department and its key delivery partners. The costs are as follows:
	 Defra—Climate Change Communications Initiative
	In December 2005 a new £12 million campaign called "Tomorrow's Climate, Today's Challenge" was launched designed to raise public awareness of and change attitudes to climate change. The costs to date are as follows:
	
		
			  Defra—Climate Change Communications Initiative 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 2005-06 (1,2,3)1,150 1,181 
			 2006-07 (to date) (4,5,6)4,505 4,505 
			 The figures include the following elements with the remainder being resource costs: (1) Resource cost £477,000 (2) Capital cost £643,000 for film, brochures, website etc. (3) Staff cost £30,000 (4) Resource cost £3,645,000 (5) Capital cost £607,000 for film, brochures, website etc. (6) Staff cost £253,000. 
		
	
	 Defra—Every Action Counts
	
		
			  Defra—Every Action Counts 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 (to date) (1)1,600 1,600 
			 (1) Defra is providing around £4 million over three years for the Every Action Counts initiative. This started in 2006-07. It is delivered by a partnership of third sector organisations. There are 12 staff working in these voluntary organisations who are being funded through this scheme at a total salary cost of £284,762. 
		
	
	 Environment Agency
	The two main environmental campaigns run by the Environment Agency are World Environment Day and Flood Awareness.
	The first World Environment Day was held in 2004. The total campaign costs are as follows:
	
		
			  World Environment Day 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 2004 150 157 
			 2005 150 154 
			 2006 250 250 
		
	
	The Flood Awareness Campaign delivers a rolling programme of public awareness initiatives across England and Wales. In 1999 the Government and the Environment Agency Board approved a 10-year £2 million per annum business case to fund the campaign.
	Staff costs and resource breakdowns are not available.
	 Envirowise
	Envirowise is a business support programme funded by Government to help companies make cost savings from environmental improvements.
	
		
			  Envirowise( 1) 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1998-99 — — 
			 1999-2000 — — 
			 2000-01 1,138 1,304 
			 2001-02 1,229 1,393 
			 2002-03 1,236 1,363 
			 2003-04 1,267 1,360 
			 2004-05 1,286 1,345 
			 2005-06 3,431 3,523 
			 (1) Envirowise was created in 2000 as the successor programme to the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme. From 2005-06 funding was increased to allow the programme to support all businesses affected by increases in Landfill Tax. Figures above refer to total expenditure, including staff and resource costs, for all market research, impact measurement, marketing campaigns, website hosting and maintenance, best practice workshops and guides. Resource and staff costs are not available separately. 
		
	
	 WRAP
	
		
			  Waste and Resources Action programme( 1) —National recycling communications campaign 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1997-98 — — 
			 1998-99 — — 
			 1999-2000 — — 
			 2000-01 — — 
			 2001-02 — — 
			 2002-03 — — 
			 2003-04 (2)517 555 
			 2004-05 (3,4)5,431 5,678 
			 2005-06 (5)5,018 5,153 
			 (1) The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is funded by Defra, the devolved Administrations. WRAP was formed in 2000 and began work in 2001. Figures supplied by WRAP. (2) Staff numbers 2 (rounded estimate), staff cost £55,000. (3) Staff numbers 4.5, staff cost £115,000. (4) Under their second business plan WRAP have committed a total of £10.966 million to a national campaign "Recycle Now" over the three year period 2003-06. (5 )Staff numbers 2.5 (directly attributable), staff cost £118,000. 
		
	
	 ENCAMS
	
		
			  ENCAMS 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1997-98 3,997 4,864 
			 1998-99 3,697 4,405 
			 1999-2000 3,762 4,406 
			 2000-01 3,542 4,099 
			 2001-02 3,762 4,265 
			 2002-03 (1)3,597 3,967 
			 2003-04 3,574 3,835 
			 2004-05 (2)4,542 4,749 
			 2005-06 (2)5,542 5,691 
			 (1) In addition to this expenditure Defra allocated an additional£1 million to local authorities through ENCAMS for the Local Environmental Quality Pathfinder Programme that forged partnerships between local authorities and the local community. Some of the projects developed reduced fast food litter, railway land litter and schools litter. (2) ENCAMS baseline grant was increased by £1 million in 2004-05, and is being increased by a further £1 million in 2005-06. 
		
	
	Government funding is provided to ENCAMS (formerly Tidy Britain Group) annually. This funding supports ENCAMS work on a range of local environmental quality issues, including programmes to discourage littering.
	Staff and resource figures are not available
	 Carbon Trust
	The Carbon Trust, an independent company funded by Defra, spent the following on its Marketing Campaign.
	
		
			  Carbon Trust 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1997-98 — — 
			 1998-99 — — 
			 1999-2000 — — 
			 2000-01 — — 
			 2001-02 — — 
			 2002-03 (1)700 772 
			 2003-04 3,300 3,541 
			 2004-05 3,600 3,764 
			 2005-06 3,800 3,697 
			 (1) The Carbon Trust was formed in 2001-02 but did not begin marketing activity until 2002-03. Figure for 2002-03 is total marketing expenditure. Figures for 2003-04 and 2004-05 represent expenditure on awareness campaigns. 
		
	
	Figures for resource breakdown are not available as Carbon Trust do not distinguish between these categories in the funding information they provide to Defra.
	 Energy Saving Trust
	The Energy Saving Trust, an independent company funded by Defra, spent the following on its Energy Efficiency Consumer Marketing Campaign.
	
		
			  Energy Saving Trust 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1997-98 (1)3,313 4,032 
			 1998-99 3,532 4,149 
			 1999-2000 3,726 4,365 
			 2000-01 4,208 4,870 
			
			 2001-02 6,542 7,416 
			 Staff (488) (553) 
			 Resource (6,054) (6,863) 
			
			 2002-03 5,742 6,332 
			 Staff (487) (537) 
			 Resource (5,255) (5,795) 
			
			 2003-04 6,038 6,479 
			 Staff (560) (601) 
			 Resource (5,478) (5,878) 
			
			 2004-05 (2)8,453 8,838 
			 Staff (547) (572) 
			 Resource (7,906) (8,266) 
			
			 2005-06 5,946 6,105 
			 Staff (511) (524) 
			 Resource (5,435) (5,580) 
			 (1) Figures for 1997-98 to 2000-01 inclusive show advertising expenditure only and include a small amount of Scottish Executive support. (2) Figures for 2004-05 have been updated as the previous figures supplied for PQ 0622 (March 2005) were an estimated outturn including a separate campaign to promote energy efficiency in the run-up to the start of the Energy Efficiency Commitment for 2005-08. 
		
	
	 "Are you doing your bit?"
	
		
			  DETR/Defra: "Are you doing you bit?" campaign 
			  £000 
			   Expenditure  Expenditure at 2006-07 prices 
			 1997-98 0 0 
			 1998-99 3,809 4,539 
			 1999-2000 7,666 8,980 
			 2000-01 9,976 11,545 
			 2001-02 525 595 
			 2002-03 (1)0 0 
			 2003-04 0 0 
			 2004-05 0 0 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 (1) This campaign served to raise public awareness and to encourage individual action to help the environment. However, in the absence of an underpinning legal requirement, it was considered to beof lower priority than the Department's other environmental programmes which bodies such as the Energy Savings Trust and NGOs will deliver. Winding down the campaign helped deliver savings of £3.4 million pa from 2005-06 onwards. 
		
	
	Staff and resource figures are not available.
	All expenditure at 2006-07 prices has been calculated using the GDP deflator tables from HM Treasury. Since similar questions were answered there have been changes in accounting practices which have given rise to variations in some of the figures given in this answer.

Energy: Conservation

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of local authority compliance with provisions in the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995, with particular reference to the performance of Birmingham city council.

Ian Pearson: Birmingham city council has reporteda 21.5 per cent. improvement in energy efficiency in residential accommodation to March 2005 under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA). Defra has provided annual written feedback to all English local authorities in response to their HECA reports.
	We are currently carrying out a review of HECA, which fulfils a commitment made in the Energy White Paper 2003. The review is due to end shortly.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research he has commissioned into the methodology of including avoided deforestation into the Kyoto Protocol carbon trading rules.

Ian Pearson: Any access to carbon markets will require methodologies to measure emissions from deforestation, because it is necessary to estimate whether a reduction in emissions has been achieved relative to an agreed level. Methodologies to do this have been developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as part of its work on land use, land use change and forestry. The UK made a large contribution to the detailed scientific work and overall guidance of this effort.
	The Natural Environmental Research Council is currently considering proposals for work under its Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System (QUEST) programme that deal with the practicalities of biosphere management including emissions reduction from deforestation. One £350,000 studywill explicitly address methodologies for avoided deforestation (along with forest management and bioenergy production) under the Kyoto Protocol.The other planned study (£500,000) investigatesthe mitigation potential of avoided deforestation compared with other activities, in a context of optimal sustainability.

Flood Control: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the proportion of Government funding for flood defences planned to be dedicated to  (a) maintenance and  (b) new build of defences in 2006-07.

Ian Pearson: Defra's current allocation of Flood Risk Grant in Aid for the Environment Agency (EA) for 2006-07 is £419 million. Of this, the EA estimates £153 million will be spent on maintenance-related activities and £196 million on the capital improvement programme with the balance funding other activities.
	Some £13 million of Defra grant will be spent by local authorities (LAs) and internal drainage boards (IDBs) on capital flood risk improvement projects.
	Funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will support estimated LA expenditure of £72 million on their levies to the EA and IDBs (£23 million and £27 million respectively, some of which will be spent on capital improvement works). LAs own spend on flood risk management operations and maintenance is estimated at £22 million.
	LAs estimate spend of £66 million of Defra grantfor coast protection capital improvement projectsand £14 million on coastal erosion maintenance and operations which is supported by DCLG. Both expenditures are primarily to defend against coastal erosion but often also provide benefits against flooding from the sea.

Flood Control: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the main headings are in the budget for flood defence spending; what budget has been allocated for each of the next three years; and what the decision-making process is for the allocation of these funds.

Ian Pearson: Defra has overall policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England, funds most of the Environment Agency's (EA) flood-related work and grant aids individual capital improvement projects undertaken by local authorities and internal drainage boards. The programme to manage risk is driven by these operating authorities within the framework of desired outcomes for the programme and investment prioritisation approach set by Defra. Defra does not carry out works directly, nor direct the authorities on which specific individual projects to undertake.
	Within the overall budget for flood and coastal erosion risk management, Defra allocates funding as follows, with the 2007-08 allocation in brackets:
	(i) Grant in Aid to the EA for flood risk management(£435.7 million).
	(ii) Funding to local authorities and internal drainage boards for capital flood risk improvement projects, channelled through the EA (£21.2 million).
	(iii) Funding to local authorities for capital coast protection improvement projects (£46.1 million). These are primarily to defend against coastal erosion but often also provide benefits against flooding from the sea.
	(iv) Other spend such as research and development, consultancies, Defra running costs (£6 million).
	The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) also provides significantsupport to local authorities for further expenditure on flood risk management activities through its local government funding mechanism.
	Funding in 2008-09 and 2009-10 will be considered in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
	Grant in Aid for the EA, comprises of two parts. Firstly, funding transferred from DCLG to Defra which had previously been provided to the EA by local authorities via DCLG-supported levies. Since 2004 this has been provided to the EA as direct Grant in Aid from Defra.
	Secondly, funding from a shared capital allocation divided between the EA, local authorities and internal drainage boards. In previous years, capital funds have been allocated using the Defra priority score system. Due to the high level of forward commitment in 2007-08 there was only a small amount of money available to fund new works schemes. For that reason, it was decided that only certain development studies and coastal monitoring projects by local authorities and internal drainage boards helping to maintain the forward programme would receive new funding except for the works scheme at Weston-Super-Mare. Letters to the authorities setting out the detail of the 2007-08 allocation process are published on the Defra website.

Flood Control: North Yorkshire

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the decision making process is for the allocation of funding to flood defence scheme projects in North Yorkshire following structural changes in the process.

Ian Pearson: Most flood risk management work in North Yorkshire is carried out by the Environment Agency (EA). Flood risk Grant in Aid from Defra is provided to the EA as a block. The EA then allocate funding from the block to activities such as flood warning, capital improvement projects, maintenanceof existing assets and preventing inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding etcetera.
	The EA allocates capital improvement funding to projects in its regions using a priority scoring system. This system gives priority to projects currently under way or to those projects which are both urgent and exempt from the priority scoring requirement because of, for example, legal obligations. Remaining funding is allocated to those projects which are likely to provide most benefit (economic, protection of people and environmental) per unit cost nationally. Capital improvement funding for North Yorkshire, therefore, will depend on the number and cost of projects in that region which receive funding through this process.

Waste Disposal

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the weight of  (a) glass,  (b) paper,  (c) aluminium,  (d) steel,  (e) plastics and  (f) wood thrown away by (i) households and (ii) businesses in England in a year; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will estimate the difference in the amount of  (a) energy and  (b) water consumed for every tonne of (i) glass, (ii) paper, (iii) aluminium, (iv) steel, (v) plastics and (vi) wood that is produced from recycled rather than new material; and what proportion the energy used to produce each from recycled materials represents as a proportion of the energy used for producing them from new material;
	(3)  what his most recent estimate is of the amount in tonnes of waste diverted from landfill through the recycling of  (a) glass,  (b) paper,  (c) aluminium,  (d) steel,  (e) plastics and  (f) wood in a year.

Ben Bradshaw: Analysis of the composition of the household waste stream was undertaken by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in 2002. These estimates have been applied to the total household waste arisings in 2005-06 for WasteDataFlow asfollows:
	
		
			   Tonnes (000) 
			 Glass 1,741 
			 Paper and card 4,704 
			 Metal cans and foil 662 
			 Scrap metal and white goods 1,145 
			 Plastics 1,802 
			 Wood 1,056 
		
	
	Aluminium and steel were not separately identified in the compositional analysis.
	Estimates of total commercial and industrial waste are available from the Environment Agency's (EA) Commercial and Industrial Waste Survey 2002-03, copies of which I am placing in the House Libraries.
	The amount of waste from household sources that was sent for recycling in 2005-06 by material type is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Tonnes (000) 
			 Glass 760 
			 Paper and card 1,475 
			 Cans 74 
			 Scrap metal and white goods 532 
			 Plastics 38 
			  Source:  WasteDataFlow 
		
	
	Estimates of commercial waste materials recycled are available from the EA's Commercial and Industrial Waste Survey 2002-03, copies of which I have placed in the Libraries of the House.
	A Defra commissioned research study conducted by ERM in association with Golder Associates entitled "Carbon Balances and Energy Impacts of the Management of UK Wastes" will be published on the Defra website shortly. This peer reviewed study report details a macro-level investigation of the carbon flows, energy and greenhouse gas benefits and impacts associated with alternative management routes for the predominant waste materials arising in the UK. The research examines the scale of benefits and impacts resulting from different process and recovery routes, traces carbon flows through alternative systems and identifies the most significant wastes and management methods.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he was informed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that contingent liabilities for provisions for disallowance arising from Common Agricultural Policy schemes, notably the single farm payment, and the possible financial correction the European Commission may apply would be  (a) £131 million and  (b) £305 million; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The estimate of potential disallowances is reviewed continually by Defra and RPA officials. Provisions for potential disallowances, totalling£116 million (in respect on England only), were made in Defra accounts for 2005-06 (covering SPS 2005 and predating historic CAP schemes).
	On 20 February 2007, Defra's spring supplementary estimate included a claim on the Reserve of £305 million for 2006-07. The claim provides estimate cover for provisions in respect of potential financial corrections to EC reimbursements for SPS 2005, any new provisions for SPS 2006 payments to farmers and other CAP schemes. Final figures for provisions will be provided in Defra's 2006-07 accounts.

Debts: Developing Countries

David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of vulture funds on the effectiveness of international aid to assist debt relief.

Edward Balls: By depleting the resources of developing countries' governments, these companies reduce the funds available for poverty-reducing expenditures on services such as health and education. The British Government have led the way in helping to cancelthe debts of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). We have exceeded our commitments under HIPC, cancelling 100 per cent. of debts owed to the UK. However, the success of international debt relief initiatives depends on the participation of all creditors providing the debt relief these countries need.
	The IMF publication "Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)—Status of Implementation" published in August 2006 and available at
	http://www.imf.org/external/pp/longres.aspx?id=3887
	provides the most up to date analysis of the scale of litigation.

Departments: Publications

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's involvement wasin the Department for International Development's publication 'The World Classroom'.

Edward Balls: 'The World Classroom' sets out the Government's support for schools' partnerships projects, and places this in the context of the Government's wider policies to encourage access to education in developing countries. These are policies which the Chancellor strongly supports and which he has helped to promote nationally and internationally.
	The publication was prepared by officials from the Department for International Development, working closely with HM Treasury officials.

HMRC Boat Sector

Robert Key: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will direct HM Revenue and Customs to record interceptions of yachts and pleasure craft entering UK waters for collation by his Department.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs donot systematically intercept yachts and pleasure craft entering UK waters, and therefore there is no record to be kept.

Revenue and Customs: Publicity

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how HM Revenue and Customs assesses the value for money of its expenditure on marketing and advertising to promote self-assessment online; and how it determines what proportion of the increase in the uptake of the service is due to its marketing and advertising campaign as opposed to the increased use of internet across society.

Dawn Primarolo: The value for money of HMRC's advertising expenditure is monitored via an independent specialist agency. Their most recent report concluded that HMRC are receiving excellent value compared to the industry average.
	The Self Assessment campaign won Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness awards in 2005 and 2006.
	HMRC conducts analyses of trends to determinethe proportion of behavioural change that can be attributed to its marketing efforts, taking account of organic take-up.

Tax Credit: North East Region

John Cummings: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many projects in  (a) County Durham and  (b) Easington constituency received research and development tax credits in each of the last four years.

John Healey: The information requested is not available.
	For information generally on the take-up of research and development tax credits, I refer the hon. Member to the National Statistics published in December 2006 on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate tax/randdtcmenu.htm

Taxation: International Assistance

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the  (a) amount of taxation on levels of remittance aid,  (b) amount of tax paid on remittances from the UK to developing countries and  (c) cost of providing tax relief on remittance aid; what measures he has taken to maximise levels of remittance aid; what steps he plans to take to increase the level of remittance aid; and what policy recommendations he has received from the UK Remittances Working Group.

Edward Balls: Remittances are an increasingly importance source of development finance and can have a significant positive economic impact in developing countries, particularly low-income countries. That is why the Government welcomed the report of the UK Remittances Working Group, available at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/pressreleases/report-remittance.asp.
	The Government are engaged in several activities to support remittance flows, including:
	developing partnerships with countries such as Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria;
	establishing an information portal (www.sendmoneyhome.org) on costs, transparency, access and choice of remittance transfers; and
	engaging regularly with the private-sector led UK Remittances Task Force which is working to promote increased competition and transparency for consumers and provide better information on the UK remittances market for Government and industry.
	There are currently no specific tax measures focused on remittances.

Welfare Tax Credits

Mike Wood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the extent to which the tax credits system has met its objectives; and what assessment he has made of the effect of problems experienced by claimants on the meeting of objectives.

Dawn Primarolo: Take-up of child tax credit (CTC) and working tax credit (WTC) has been a success with the vast majority of claimants receiving the right amount of payments at the right time.
	Tax credits have helped to lift 700,000 childrenout of relative poverty since 1996-97—compared to a doubling of child poverty in the previous 20 years.
	Tax credits have also helped increase the number of people in work by over 2.5 million since spring 1997, and since 1997 long-term unemployment has reduced by 450,000.
	Furthermore, tax credits have also been central to reducing the tax burden on low to middle income families. The latest OECD study shows the tax burden on a single-earner couple with two children earning £21,000 has fallen from 17.3 per cent. of gross earnings in 1997 to 9.8 per cent. in 2004.

Welfare Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many overpayments have been  (a) caused and  (b) written off due to the original problems being caused by technical problems on the Tax Credit Office computer system.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested. I refer the hon. Member tothe answers I gave him on 1 November 2006,  Official Report, column 543W.

Working Tax Credit

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances a person living in the UK working as an au pair from  (a) an EU and  (b) a non-EU state may qualify for Working Tax Credit (WTC); for how long such a person must be resident in the UK before qualifying; and how many such people are estimated to be receiving WTC.

Dawn Primarolo: Entitlement to Working Tax Credit (WTC) depends on a person being in "qualifying remunerative work". Claimants with responsibilityfor a child or qualifying young person, or who are disabled, must work for at least 16 hours a week to qualify for WTC. Workers without children or a disability must be aged at least 25 and work for 30 or more hours a week in order to qualify.
	A person is ordinarily resident if they normallylive in the United Kingdom (apart from occasional temporary absences) and they have chosen to live and settle here in the UK for the time being.
	People who have limited leave to enter or remainin the UK are generally excluded from access to public funds, including WTC.
	More detailed guidance is available on the HMRC website (www.hmrc.gov.uk).
	The other information requested is not available.

Afghanistan: Overseas Aid

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of Statefor International Development what funding has been committed to Afghanistan for reconstruction and development in each year since the invasion; what proportion of this funding has been committed  (a) bilaterally and  (b) multilaterally; and through which organisations.

Hilary Benn: DFID spent over £390 million on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan between April 2001 and March 2006. We have committed to spend a further £330 million between April 2006 and March 2009, including a planned £102 million in 2006-07.
	Our bilateral programme spend in Afghanistan over the last five financial years has been as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2001-02 50 
			 2002-03 75 
			 2003-04 80 
			 2004-05 80 
			 2005-06 98 
		
	
	Amounts channelled through UN agencies were£1.3 million in 2001, £2.1 million in 2002, £1.4 million in 2003, and £4.0 million in 2004. We are also contributing 18 per cent. of the EC's pledge of£1 billion between 2002 and 2007 (around £125 million in total, or around £25 million per year). We also contribute over 10 per cent. of the World Bank's spending of $250-$300 million a year in Afghanistan, and we also channel funds through the Asian Development Bank. The international and local non-governmental organisations through which we have channelled funds are listed at Annexes A and B respectively.
	 Annex A: International Organisations
	Action Contre La Faim
	Afghan Aid
	Afghan Development Association
	Aga Khan
	Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development
	Aide Medicale International
	Assisting Marsh Arabs and Refugees
	BBC World Service Trust
	BRAC
	British Agencies Advisory Group
	British Red Cross
	British Refugee Council
	CAFOD
	Care
	Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
	Christina Aid
	Concern
	Development initiatives
	Greenshields Cowie
	Halo Trust
	International Rescue Committee
	Islamic Relief
	Mercy Corps
	Merlin
	Ockenden International
	Oxfam
	Pharmaciens Sans Frontieres
	Refugee Studies Centre
	Save the Children Fund
	Solidarities
	TearFund
	The Asia Foundation
	War Child UK
	Womankind
	 Annex B: Local Organisations
	Afghan Fertiliser Company
	Afghanistan Independence Human Rights Commission
	Afghanistan Information Management Service
	Afghanistan National Construction Coordination
	Civil Service Commission
	Cooperation Centre for Afghanistan
	Helping Afghan Farmers Organisation
	Irtiqa Development and Construction Organisation
	Luqman Rehabilitation Organisation
	Moqadas Reconstruction Organisation
	Reconstruction Committee for Development of Afghanistan
	Roshan Construction Company
	Southern Afghanistan Development Association
	Southern Rehabilitation and Aid Committee
	Tribal Liaison Office

Nicaragua: Bomb Disposal

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of Statefor International Development what assessment his Department has made of the danger posed by landmines in Nicaragua; and what aid the UK  (a) has allocated and  (b) plans to allocate for mine removal and local training to remove mines.

Gareth Thomas: In recent years, Nicaragua has made significant progress in de-mining landmines left over from its years of conflict, under the auspices of the Nicaraguan Army Engineer Corps. The most recent Landmine Monitor report of 2006 indicated that many areas, such as the Southern Atlantic Coast Region, have now been cleared entirely, but progress is still needed in other regions, such as the North Atlantic Coast. In addition, the social and economic impact of uncleared mines is still felt, with casualties continuing to occur every year. Nicaragua's "Demining National Plan" lays out Nicaragua's interventions with regard to demining, with the support of the international community through the Organisation of American States (OAS). The de-mining programmes are often accompanied by mine education and awareness programmes and support to victims.
	Globally, DFID is committed to reduce the social and economic impact of landmines on developing countries through helping them to implement their obligations under the Ottawa Convention. In 1999-2001, DFID provided support (£283,000) to the Government of Nicaragua, through the "Humanitarian Mine Action" programme coordinated by the OAS, to remove and destroy landmines and unexploited artefacts planted throughout the country during the years of conflict.
	In addition, between 2000 and 2001, the UK Government, through the embassy in Nicaragua, contributed £850,000 to the implementation of Nicaragua's Demining National Plan through the OAS. These resources went towards the removal and destruction of land mines in the area of the Northern Atlantic Coast.
	The European Commission has also undertaken a €1.3 million project (2003-04), entitled "Implementation of Humanitarian Operations for Demining in Nueva Segovia". This project was executed by the Nicaraguan Army, under the supervision of the OAS and Inter American Development Bank.
	DFID no longer provides direct support to the de-mining effort in Nicaragua, as many donor partners continue to be closely engaged, including EU partners, Canada and the United States of America.

House of Lords: Reform

Alan Williams: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2007 to Question 124296, on House of Lords reform, on what basis he plans to divide the UK into electoral units for the election of Members of the House of Lords under his proposals for reform.

Jack Straw: Paragraph 7.95 of the White Paper?"The House of Lords: Reform" explains that in terms of constituency, the Government propose the simplest approach is to use the regions used for elections to the European Parliament.

Algeria: Deportation

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1125W, on Algeria: deportation, what the most recent information is which she has received on the four individuals; what further steps embassy officials have taken; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Embassy officials in Algiers have remained in close contact with the Algerian Government concerning the situation of the four individuals deported from the UK between 20 and27 January 2007. Algerian Government officials have confirmed that "K" was detained on 24 January and released on 4 February; that "P" was detained on27 January and released on 30 January; that Reda Dendani ("Q") was detained on 25 January and subsequently brought before a court and chargedwith membership of an armed terrorist group under Article 87 of the Algerian Criminal Code as well as assumption of the name of a third party under Article 249 of that same Code; and that "H" was detained on 31 January and subsequently brought before a court and charged with membership of an armed terrorist group under Article 87 of the Code. Each individual was either charged or released before the expiration of the 12 day detention period authorised under the Algerian Criminal Procedure Code. Embassy officials continue to stay in touch with Algerian Government officials.

Conference on Disarmament

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps the Government have taken within the Conference on Disarmament to achieve consensus on commencing negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I visited the Conference on Disarmament on 22 February 2007 to discuss thisissue and, in a speech to the conference, encouraged delegations to move forward on these negotiations. The UK fully supports the immediate commencement of negotiations and the conclusion of a treaty on fissile material cut-off. In advance of a treaty coming into force, the UK, in 1995, announced that it had ceased production of fissile material for weapons purposes. This moratorium remains in place.

Departments: Energy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what strategy she has put in place for  (a) the use of renewable energy and  (b) meeting energy targets in her Department's buildings; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office sets and manages all of the Government's sustainable operations energy targets in our environmental management programme (BMP). The use of renewable energy is embedded in our energy procurement arrangements. As a result, we purchase 100 per cent. of the electricity we use at our main building in King Charles street, equating to 39 per cent. of all the electricity we use in the UK, from renewable sources.In addition, as part of implementing our carbon management programme (CMP), developed with the Carbon Trust, we will shortly be examining the practicality of generating from renewable sources some of the electricity used at our site at Hanslope park, which accounts for 39 per cent. of our UK energy consumption.
	Our strategy for meeting our other energy targets is, similarly, to manage them in our BMP, undertake energy saving projects, apply the building research establishment environmental assessment method to our new builds and refurbishments and implement key energy efficiency recommendations contained in our CMP.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent on  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in (i) her Department and (ii) each agency of the Department in each year since 1997-98; how much is planned to be spent for 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has spent the following sums on compensation for early retirement each year since 1997.
	
		
			   £ 
			 1997-98 2,825,000 
			 1998-99 3,315,000 
			 1999-2000 3,802,000 
			 2000-01 1,871,000 
			 2001-02 1,805,000 
			 2002-03 3,194,000 
			 2003-04 3,878,000 
			 2004-05 4,955,000 
			 2005-06 14,801,000 
			 2006-07(1) 8,895,000 
			 2007-08(1) 11,641,000 
			 (1) The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are provisional estimates. 
		
	
	We have not been able to identify what sums, if any, within this total were spent on involuntary departures. To check individual records for this purpose would incur disproportionate cost. It is our policy to do all we can to avoid or minimise compulsory redundancies.
	All payments have been made in accordance with the provisions of the civil service compensation schemes. As a result of the 2004 spending round we have carried out a restructuring exercise since 2004 to realise efficiency savings. This early retirement programme will enable us to reduce the size of the senior management structure in the FCO by 18 per cent. by 31 March 2008.

Iraq: Constitutions

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how manywomen are represented on the Constitutional Review committee for the Iraqi constitution; and whether this fills the applicable quota.

Kim Howells: There are two women on the Constitutional Review committee, Najiiha al-Habib and Aliah Nasif al-Ubeidi. Article 142 of the Constitution, which sets out the provisions for the review, does not stipulate a gender quota for the committee.

Iraq: Religious Freedom

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with Iraqi officials on the rights of Christians to worship freely in Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We support provisions in the Iraqi constitution that guarantee freedom of religious belief and practice to all Iraqi people. We continually press members of the Iraqi government and Council of Representatives on their obligation to serve all ofIraq's communities, regardless of faith or political persuasion, and to develop legislation and policies that protect these important provisions.

Timor-Leste

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant toher answer of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, column 21W, on Timor-Leste, when she expects the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report to be discussed by the Timor-Leste Parliament; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: It is for the government of Timor-Leste to decide how to handle the report within their Parliament. Nevertheless, in welcoming the report and recommendations of the then UN Secretary-General on justice and reconciliation in Timor-Leste, we have made clear our view that the demandfor justice and accountability for the serious crimes committed in 1999 remains a fundamental issue in the lives of many Timorese.

Elections: Local Government

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 792W, on political party expenditure, whether the Electoral Commission has made any estimate of the amount spent by candidates in  (a) the local government elections of May 2006 and  (b) previous local elections.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not make estimates of the amountspent by candidates in local government elections. Candidates and their election agents must submit returns of their election expenses to the returning officer, who then makes them available for public inspection. The Commission discharges its statutory duty to monitor compliance with the controls on spending by local government candidates in England and Wales by reviewing samples of returns.

Party Political Broadcasts

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 792W, on politicalparty expenditure, what  (a) research the Electoral Commission has (i) undertaken and (ii) commissioned on and  (b) estimates the Commission has made of the value of free party political and election broadcasts.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission's 2004 report "The Funding of Political Parties" noted that the availability of free airtime to political parties at the time of elections and at other key events in the political calendar is, in effect, an indirect subsidy of their activities. The Commission informs me that it has not conducted research into, or made any estimate of, the value of such free airtime to political parties.

Political Parties: Finance

Oliver Heald: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what estimate the Electoral Commission has made of expenditure by political parties through the vehicles of local constituency associations who are not required to provide annual statements of accounts as accounting units.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it periodically requests details of the expenditure incurred by political parties' accounting units. The purpose of these requests is to ensurethat the Commission receives annual statements of accounts from all accounting units with annual income or expenditure above £25,000. When this exercise was carried out in 2004, 1,283 accounting units that were not required to submit annual statements of accounts, from 14 parties, reported total expenditure of just under £4.2 million in their financial years ending in 2003. A similar exercise is being carried out by the Commission in respect of financial years endingin 2006.

Airports

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent measures he has taken to improve airport security.

Gillian Merron: Following the August security alerta number of new aviation security measures were implemented at UK airports. Some of these measures are apparent to passengers, notably the controls on liquids and the limit on the number and maximum size of cabin bags. Other new measures are not visible to passengers, and the hon. Member will understand that on security grounds it would not be appropriate for those to be disclosed.

A45: Wellingborough

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward plans to improve the section of the A45 that passes through Wellingborough constituency.

Stephen Ladyman: We have accepted the advice of the East Midlands Regional Assembly that any major improvements along the A45, such as grade-separating the junctions at A45/A509 Wilby Way and A45/A6 Chowns Mill, are not transport investment priorities for the east midlands in the period to 2015-16.
	However, I have given approval to an upgraded layout for the A45 Wilby Way roundabout which isto be built later this year at a cost of £1.3 millionfrom the Community Infrastructure Funding budget. In addition, as a condition of planning consent, mitigation measures are to be carried out by the developer at junctions along the A45 impacted by the 3,100 housing unit Wellingborough East development. Many of these junctions are within the Wellingborough constituency.

Aviation: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made towards the development of a hydrogen fuelled aircraft; and what the Government's role is in the development of such an aircraft.

Gillian Merron: The design of future aircraft engines and their fuelling is primarily a matter for aero-engine manufacturers and the fuel industry and their research programmes.
	In practice, alternative fuels for aviation are notan imminent prospect. Hydrogen also has its own environmental drawbacks: at altitude, it is a global warming gas. Consideration also has to be given to the energy needed for hydrogen production, as well as to infrastructure and safety issues.

Biofuels

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many garages and petrol stations provide  (a) bio-fuels,  (b) liquefied petroleum gas and  (c) compressed natural gas; and what steps he is taking to increase these numbers.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not held centrally by Government. However regularly updated figures are available on the Energy Saving Trust website at:
	www.est.org.uk/fleet/Vehicles/Alternativefuels/Alternativefuelsrefuelling.map/
	The Government provide funds to the Energy Saving Trust to run their Infrastructure grant programme.The grants assist the building of refuelling stations for alternative fuels (natural gas/biogas, hydrogen and bio-ethanol). The Department for Transport alsofunds EST's Low Carbon Research and Development Programme to accelerate low carbon vehicle technologies to the market place.
	The Government encourage the use of alternative fuels through reduced rates of Vehicle Excise Duty for cars run on certain alternative fuels (for example LPG) and registered after 1 March 2001. Bio-diesel and bio-ethanol also both benefit from a 20p per litre fuel duty incentive. The Government are also introducing a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in April 2008 which will ensure a significant and stable market for biofuels in the UK, and is likely to mean that biofuels are available in low blends at the majority of forecourts in the UK.

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has madein achieving gender equality in public appointmentsto bodies which fall within his Department's responsibility since 1997.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 5 March 2007
	The Government remain committed to improving diversity on the boards of public bodies and the principle of equal representation of women and men in public appointments. The annual Cabinet Office publication 'Public Bodies' contains details of the number of women appointed to public bodies each year by Department. For 1997-2006 copies of these documents are available in the Library for the reference of Members. From 1998 copies are also available on the internet at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/public_bodies

Departments: Pendle

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what expenditure is planned to be carried out in Pendle by his Department in each year up to 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Disaggregated figures at constituency or local level are not available for most of the Department for Transport's planned expenditure (including for railways and trunk roads).
	The local transport capital funding allocations made for Lancashire county council for the years up to 2010-11 are detailed in the following table. The Department does not allocate local transport plan funding to individual constituency areas. It is up to Lancashire county council to determine where it allocates the fund support provided for the county according to its local priorities.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Lancashire  Integrated transport  Highways capital maintenance 
			 2007-08 11.961 15.681 
			 2008-09 12.583 (1)— 
			 2009-10 13.389 (1)— 
			 2010-11 14.189 (1)— 
			 (1 )Yet to be allocated and announced 
		
	
	In addition the Department is paying Lancashire county council a grant under the Rural Bus Challenge (RBC) competition for a project that operates in Pendle called the 'Pendleside Wayfarer'. This received an award of £706,704, part of which has been paid.
	The remaining balance of the grant is £368,447 and the planned payments are:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 147,644 
			 2007-08 220,803 
		
	
	The Government provides further financial support for bus services in the locality, including through:
	Bus Services Operators Grant, paid by the Department to bus companies;
	Revenue Support Grant to Pendle district council (in respect of concessionary fares);
	Revenue Support Grant to Lancashire county council (in respect of socially necessary services).
	Revenue support grant is provided to a local authority to use for services according to its local priorities and the Government do not identify specific levels of funding to be spent on particular activities, such as supporting bus services.

London Underground

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many delays of more than  (a) five minutes,  (b) 10 minutes and  (c) 15 minutes there were on the London Underground (LU) in each year since 1990 during which his Department had responsibility for LU, broken down by line.

Gillian Merron: Responsibility for London Underground passed to Transport for London and the Mayor of London on 15 July 2003. Performance since then has been an operational matter for London Underground who are best placed to answer direct. London Underground does not hold figures in the breakdown requested and the information on theyears prior to 1996 could be provided only at disproportionate time and cost. The figures for 1996to 2003 are:
	
		
			  Number of train delays >15 minutes  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Bakerloo 255 232 300 329 300 318 356 
			 Central 512 678 541 446 495 501 284 
			 District 385 332 360 326 418 574 573 
			 Jubilee 138 142 173 234 208 289 246 
			 East London — 4 295 136 110 108 102 
			 Northern 343 336 332 235 216 247 250 
			 Piccadilly 258 246 275 246 267 333 392 
			 Victoria 131 183 142 95 97 151 148 
			 Metropolitan 374 375 302 319 404 495 564 
			 Circle and Hammersmith 181 135 134 189 291 287 287 
			 Waterloo and City 79 30 44 34 38 39 76 
			 Total 2,656 2,693 2,898 2,589 2,844 3,342 3,278

Speed Limits: Cameras

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received regarding changes in staffing levels withinthe Bedfordshire and Luton Casualty Reduction Partnership; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not received any representations regarding changes in staffing levels within the Bedfordshire and Luton Casualty Reduction Partnership.

Speed Limits: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue speed cameras raised in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: Speed cameras do not produce revenue. Drivers who break the law pay penalties, as other lawbreakers do. The Department does not hold records in respect to offences detected solely by speed cameras. The audit certificates for the Lancashire Safety Camera Partnership for the financial years outlined in the following table show the fines from conditional offer of fixed penalties for offences detected by speed and red light cameras operating under the National Safety Camera Programme forthe last five years. The Lancashire Safety Camera Partnership joined the national programme inOctober 2001.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2001-02 1,197,180 
			 2002-03 5,909,700 
			 2003-04 5,073,600 
			 2004-05 3,532,140 
			 2005-06 3,773,220

Tolls: Greater London

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of applying to other areas the lessons learned from the London congestion charge.

Douglas Alexander: Lessons learned from the London congestion charge have, and will continueto, form an important part of the Department's developing road pricing policy. In particular the fundamental role that improved public transport has played in the success of London's scheme.
	We are working with a number of areas outside London as they consider whether they want tobring forward local pilot schemes to address local congestion. My Department has established the Road Pricing Local Liaison Group which brings together TfL and those other authorities considering local road pricing pilots.

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress his Departmenthas made in achieving gender equality in public appointments to bodies which fall within his Department's responsibility since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 5 March 2007
	The Government remain committed to improving diversity on the boards of public bodies and the principle of equal representation of women and men in public appointments. The annual Cabinet Office publication 'Public Bodies' contains details of the number of women appointed to public bodies each year by Department. For 1997- 2006 copies of these documents are available in the Libraries of the House for the reference of Members. From 1998 copies are also available on the internet at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/public_bodies/

Departments: Sick Pay

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all agency workers receive the statutory sick pay to which they are entitled; and which categories of agency workers are not entitled to statutory sick pay.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government's intention is for all agency workers to have equal access to statutory sick pay in linewith other workers. The Government are therefore appealing a recent High Court decision which excludes agency workers with contracts of three months or less from entitlement to statutory sick pay.

Employment: Discrimination

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of the Age Discrimination Regulations among  (a) employers and  (b) employees.

Jim Fitzpatrick: ACAS good practice guidance for employers and employees, and DTI guidance on the occupational pensions aspects of the regulations were published in April 2006. The DTI website contains additional guidance, including the explanatory notes on regulations. The Directgov and BusinessLink sites also provide information and an interactive tool for individuals and employers. The Department forWork and Pensions' 'Be Ready' campaign has provided 1.4 million employers with practical information about age good practice and the legislation, and there has been substantial demand for further in depth information.
	DTI's £l million capacity building programme provided funds for activities aimed at raising individuals' and employees' awareness of their new rights, and for up-skilling advice providers in the field of age discrimination. DTI has also committed a further £100,000 for a media campaign to increase levels of individual awareness of the age discrimination legislation.

Satellite Communications

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the potential threat to UK industry from viruses on 3G mobile telephones.

Margaret Hodge: I have had no discussionswith Ofcom specifically on the question of viruses impacting on 3G phones. The Government believe that the security of communications is vital to consumer trust and confidence in the new technologies and the relevant parts of Government work together to achieve this within the overarching framework of the Government's information assurance strategy. A key element of this strategy is that the Government work with the technology vendors and the network service providers to both prevent problems arising and to help address those that do in a timely manner. Ofcom are a partner in this process.

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has  (a) a gender strategy and  (b) a gender equality action plan in place.

David Lammy: DCMS anticipated the introduction of the gender equality duty by publishing a combined Equality Scheme in December 2006 addressing race, disability and gender. The Department is currently reviewing and updating that scheme and its action plan to ensure that it complies with the gender equalityduty. An updated Equality Scheme will be published by 30 April 2007. The Department has also held an awareness seminar for our sponsored bodies and is encouraging compliance with the duty to publish an equality scheme by the April 2007 deadline.

Digital Broadcasting

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to encourage public service broadcasters to make their services available in high definition format.

Shaun Woodward: The question of whether to offer services in high definition format is one for individual broadcasters to consider. The BBC's Public Purposes under the Charter include the general obligation of helping deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services.

Olympic Games: Devon

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will estimate the likely effect on Lottery funding awarded to recipients in  (a) Torridge and West Devon constituency and  (b) England over the next (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) nine years of the National Lottery funding for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Richard Caborn: It was always understood when we bid that National Lottery funding for London 2012 would involve some loss of income to the non-Olympic good causes, though it is not possible to estimate this on a constituency-by-constituency basis. Overall though, non-Olympic Lottery distributors may lose an average of 5 per cent. of their income because of sales diversion to Olympic Lottery games over the period 2005-06 to 2012-13. In addition, we have already announced that £410 million will be taken from non-Olympic Lottery proceeds between 2009 and 2012. No decision has been made about how that amount will be shared between the various non-Olympic good causes.
	The Government are currently considering howthe additional Olympic costs of £900 million shouldbe met. No conclusions have yet been reached on the further use of Lottery funding.

World Heritage Sites

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which locations in the UK have  (a) been granted World Heritage site status,  (b) been nominated for such status and  (c) indicated to her an interest in making an application for World Heritage site status.

David Lammy: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) The 27 UK World Heritage sites are listed in the table:
	
		
			  World Heritage sites  Date of inscription 
			 Castles and Town Wall of King Edward in Gwynedd 1986 
			 Durham Castle and Cathedral 1986 
			 Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast 1986 
			 Ironbridge Gorge 1986 
			 St. Kilda (1)1986 
			 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites 1986 
			 Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey 1986 
			 Blenheim Palace 1987 
			 City of Bath 1987 
			 Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Hadrian's Wall (2)1987 
			 Palace of Westminster, St. Margaret's Church and Westminster Abbey 1987 
			 Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church 1988 
			 Henderson Island 1988 
			 Tower of London 1988 
			 Gough and Inaccessible Islands (3)1995 
			 Old and New Towns of Edinburgh 1995 
			 Maritime Greenwich 1997 
			 Heart of Neolithic Orkney 1999 
			 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape 2000 
			 The Historic Town of St. George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda 2000 
			 Derwent Valley Mills 2001 
			 Dorset and East Devon Coast 2001 
			 New Lanark 2001 
			 Saltaire 2001 
			 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2003 
			 Liverpool—Maritime Mercantile City 2004 
			 Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape 2006 
			 (1 )Extended 2004, 2005 (2 )Extended 2005 (3) Extended 2004 
		
	
	 (b) The current UK nominations are Darwin at Downe, which will be considered by the World Heritage Committee in June 2007 and The Antonine Wall, which will be considered in summer 2008.
	 (c) Between my Department, English Heritage and the Devolved Administrations, we receive on average about one new inquiry each month on prospective sites for inclusion on the UK Tentative List, which is shortly to be reviewed. We currently have some 46 such sites on file, one of which is Colchester.

Treaty of Rome: Anniversaries

William Hague: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make oral statements in the House following the meeting of  (a) the European Council on 8th to9th March and  (b) Heads of State and Government of the European Union marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome on 24th to 25th March.

Tony Blair: I shall inform the House about the outcome of both events.

Benefits

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the level of overpayment of benefits by his Department was in each of the last eight years.

James Plaskitt: pursuant to the reply, 8 November 2006, Official Report, c. 1613-14W
	The information requested is only available from the fiscal year 2000-01.
	The overpayments of benefit are identified in the following table. This is broken down between thosethat are recoverable under social security legislation, because of claimant error or fraud, and the total, which will include those overpayments that were not recoverable under social security legislation:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Recoverable  Total 
			 2000-01 363 494 
			 2001-02 328 434 
			 2002-03 304 417 
			 2003-04 278 363 
			 2004-05 307 408 
			 2005-06 365 (1)464 
			 (1) This represents 0.4 per cent. of total benefit expenditure. 
		
	
	The Department initiated a programme in 2001 to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of benefit overpayments. This programme had delivered by 2005 a dedicated debt management organisation, with a new computer system rolled out by February 2006.
	This has succeeded in heightening the profile of recovery of overpayments, particularly those arising through fraud or claimant error, which forms the majority of the overpayments that are identified,as shown. As part of this increased profile, the Department now uses private sector companies to help recover debts where the Department's own recovery attempts have been unsuccessful. This reinforces the message that we are taking recovery of debt seriously.
	In addition, to help tackle the error problem the Department has taken a three pronged approach:
	Set up a dedicated official error reduction task force with the specific aim of achieving demonstrable reductions in official error in short term by December 2006.
	Established a dedicated benefit simplification team focused on exploring how the benefit system could be simplified.
	Is developing a longer-term error reduction strategy which will set out medium and long term solutions to further improve benefit correctness.

Jobcentre Plus: Darlington

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies were notified to Jobcentre Plus in Darlington in each of the last12 months.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus Office in Darlington, 2006 
			  Month of notification  Number of vacancies 
			 January 510 
			 February 670 
			 March 710 
			 April 800 
			 May 700 
			 June 660 
			 July 1,000 
			 August 1,230 
			 September 1,040 
			 October 1,180 
			 November 860 
			 December 830 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures represent the number of new vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus each month rather than the total number of vacancies available.  Source: DWP Information Directorate Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System

Jobseeker's Allowance: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Work and Pensions how many people claimed jobseeker's allowance in  (a) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency and  (b) each London borough in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2002.

James Plaskitt: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Motability

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people leased  (a) a car and  (b) a powered wheelchair through Motability in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: Motability is a national charity that assists disabled people with their mobility needs. The Motability scheme enables disabled people to obtaina car, powered wheelchair or scooter by using their disability living allowance mobility component or their war pensioners' mobility supplement as a funding stream.
	Motability provides cars via both contract hire and hire purchase. Route2mobility provide scooters and powered wheelchairs via contract hire and hire purchase.
	The following table gives details of leased and hire purchased cars and powered wheelchairs over the last five years.
	
		
			   Contract hire car  New car hire purchase  Used car hire purchase  Total cars (contract hire and hire purchase)  Wheelchairs and scooters (contract hire and hire purchase) 
			 2005-06 396,633 6,082 13,650 416,365 6,881 
			 2004-05 371,058 7,193 11,300 395,789 6,238 
			 2003-04 366,959 7,396 7,485 388,187 6,347 
			 2002-03 378,414 6,526 4,185 395,257 6,132 
			 2001-02 378,447 7,002 4,172 395,546 5,925

Pension Credit: Scotland

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in Scotland he estimates are eligible for pension credit, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

James Purnell: holding answer 6 February 2007
	Estimates of eligibility, and therefore of take-up, are not available below the level of Great Britain, and it is not therefore possible to say what the take-up of pension credit in Scotland is.
	The latest estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain entitled to pension credit were published in 'Pension Credit Estimates of Take-Up in 2004-05'. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
	Pension credit has been highly successful in reducing pensioner poverty and now, for the first time in a period of sustained economic growth, pensioners are less likely to be in poverty than the population as a whole. Since the introduction of pension credit, the number of pensioners in relative poverty has fallen by half a million.
	We continue to make every effort to ensure that pension credit goes to those who are entitled to it. The latest estimates showed that 2.7 million households were receiving pension credit, and this includes 283,480 households in Scotland.
	 Notes
	1. The figure provided is an early estimate. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figure provided isthe latest available figure which is taken from the GMS scan at1 September 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure.
	2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10.
	3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.
	 Source
	DWP 100 per cent data from the Generalised Matching Service (QMS) pension credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.

Written Questions: Administrative Delays

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to answer question 105425, tabled on 5 December 2006 by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South.

Jim Murphy: I replied to the hon. Member's question on 19 February 2007,  Official Report,column 1487W.

Armed Forces: Private Education

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what system of accountability is in place to monitor the decisions made by service personnel who have children in private education funded by his Department;what checks are made of  (a) claims issued and  (b) allowance sought; whether inappropriate claims can be recouped; and whether disciplinary action can be taken following misuse of funds.

Derek Twigg: All three services are required to ensure that all Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) applications are strictly in accordance with current regulations so that the allowance is only paid to those eligible and meets the Department's aim.
	The aim of CEA is to assist service personnel to achieve continuity of education for their child(ren) that would otherwise be denied in the maintained day school sector if their child(ren) accompanied them on frequent assignments both at home and overseas. On receipt of the allowance it is a parent's choice whether to educate their child(ren) in either a state maintained or private boarding school.
	A service applicant must acknowledge formally that they are submitting a CEA claim in accordance with current regulations. Also, they must certify that their family will move with them to their new duty station whenever their service requires them to do so. Thisis known as family mobility and is a significant commitment for a service family. Therefore, should a service person fail to move their family with them when they are assigned to a new duty station, then their entitlement to CEA will be reviewed. This may result in the allowance being stopped and the service person required to repay any CEA they have received prior to that posting.
	At all times, the service claimant must fully accept that accompanied service is the overriding principle for maintaining CEA entitlement. Accompanied service is when a service person maintains a home in which their spouse/civil partner and any dependant child(ren) normally live and from which the service person travels daily to work. However, there are a few exceptions to the accompanied service criteria, but these only apply when it is unreasonable for a service person to be accompanied by their family, such as when they are undertaking an operational deployment. In such circumstances, the services ensure that CEA is only paid strictly in accordance with current regulations.
	CEA is now administered by Joint Personnel Administration (JPA), which undertakes a number of automatic checks for all claims. JPA will check:
	(a) that the claimant has a current mobility certificate and if the certificate is more than three-years old, or the service person is re-assigned or a child changes school, then a new mobility certificate must be completed. This will automatically prompt a review of the service person's entitlement to CEA;
	(b) that the child for whom the claim is being submitted is registered as a child of the claimant. This will also check that the child is between the ages of 8 and 18;
	(c) that the state maintained or private boarding school in which the claimant wishes to place their child(ren) is registered on the Ministry of Defence Accredited Schools Database.
	JPA will also limit the service claimant to one claim for each child per term. In addition, all claims are subject to manual authorisation by either service or civilian human resources (HR) staff. They will consider every claim and the claimant must provide receipted bills for the previous term's school fees to their HR authoriser before any payment is approved. If, upon investigation, a claim is deemed to be fraudulent or contrary to regulations, then administrative action is undertaken to recover in full these payments. In addition, following an appropriate investigation, this could result in disciplinary action against a claimant.

Army: Zimbabwe

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were recruited to the Army from Zimbabwe in each of the last three years.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 5 March 2007
	The table provides intake figures to the Army for those personnel with a nationality of Zimbabwean in each of the last three years:
	
		
			  Intake( 1)  from civilian life to UK Regular Army( 2) , for those with a nationality( 3)  of Zimbabwean 
			  Date of Intake  Number of Inflows 
			 2004 80 
			 2005 40 
			 2006 50 
			 (1) Figures show all intake to the UK Regular Army including re-enlistments and rejoined reservists. Figures include both officer and soldier intake. (2) UK Regular Army includes nursing services and excludes full-time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel. (3) The nationality given above is that recorded on intake and not necessarily the same as the nationality at birth.  Note: Figures have been rounded to 10. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of the parts.

Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to recruit and train paramedics to serve with the front lines in  (a) Iraqand  (b) Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 28 February 2007
	The single services each currently assess that their individual requirement for paramedics who would meet the civilian Health Professions Council (HPC) criteria is small, and each recruits and trains personnel to meet their particular requirements.
	 Royal Navy
	The Navy recruits and trains a range of personnel who come under the heading of medical assistants, many of whom undertake equivalent tasks to civilian paramedics but who would not meet the specific HPC criteria. Medical assistants are recruited and trained according to an overall Navy requirement rather than in support of a specific land-based deployment to, for example, Iraq or Afghanistan. With regard to specific deployments, medical assistants undertake the same pre-deployment training as other medical personnel. Within the cadre of medical assistants there are a number of sub-specialties such as operating department practitioners, commando, and submarine who will also receive extra training for their speciality.
	 Army
	The Army Medical Service (AMS) does have a small number of paramedics. However, the majority of personnel are recruited as combat medical technicians (CMTs) whose duties are similar to those of ambulance technicians but with additional primary health care and military acute care training, which is developed to meet the particular needs of combat. Although the Regular and Territorial Army have recruited a few qualified civilian paramedics, CMTs generally join as unqualified individuals and then receive specific medical training while they are serving. A small number of CMTs have been selected for paramedic training.
	While basic training for all operations is the same, all AMS personnel undertake pre-deployment training prior to operations to ensure that skills are tailored to the specific threats of that theatre. MOD has contracts with the East Anglia and Great Western NHS Ambulance Trusts. East Anglia provides ambulance technician training for Army combat medical technicians and Great Western provides full paramedic training to achieve Health Professions Council registration.
	 RAF
	There are currently no established paramedic posts in the RAF. However, the RAF has recently identified an operational requirement of 65 medical assistantsto be trained as paramedics. Work is currently being undertaken by the Personnel and Policy Steering Group to fulfil this requirement, with the aim of training appropriate personnel during the next two years.
	To comply with the RAF operational requirements for their helicopter immediate response teams, the RAF personnel will also receive training to work with the Great Western helicopter emergency services.

Nuclear Weapons

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the work detailed in the breakdown of nuclear liabilities outlined in the answer to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) of 24 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 778-79W, on nuclear liabilities, is likely to be carried out before 2055; and which of the items in that answer are includedin the projected in-service costs for Trident and its replacement in paragraph 5-14 of the White Paperon the Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent.

Des Browne: Some 65 per cent. of the nuclear liabilities outlined in the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) of 24 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 778-79W, are expected to be incurred before 2055. The elements of those liabilities related to the current Trident system are included in the estimate of in-service costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent set out at paragraph 5-14 of the White Paper: "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994). That estimate also includes an allowance for the decommissioning of a successor system.

Uniforms

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the  (a) average and  (b) total annual cost of the (i) maintenance, (ii) storage and (iii) transportation of bearskin headpieces.

Adam Ingram: The average cost of refurbishing a bearskin cap is between £250 to £300, depending onthe type of repair. An estimated 550 bearskincaps have been refurbished since 2001 at a cost of approximately £150,000. There are no other maintenance costs. Bearskins are stored with other items of uniform and incur no additional storage costs. Details of transportation could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many parents in each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency defaulted on their child support payments in each of the last 18 months for which figures are available.

David Hanson: The number of parents in each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency who have defaulted on their child support payments in each of the last 18 months is shown in the following tables. The information has been broken down to show the number of non-resident parents who have defaulted on their child support payments by either not complying at all or by only partially complying.
	
		
			  Number of nil and partially compliant non-resident parents by parliamentary constituency 
			   Belfast East  Belfast North  Belfast South  Belfast West  East Antrim  East Londonderry 
			   Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial 
			 August 2005 144 72 239 116 119 55 257 112 196 80 178 80 
			 September 2005 147 87 234 143 129 87 266 156 194 93 185 109 
			 October 2005 142 78 231 115 116 65 238 121 179 69 176 72 
			 November 2005 159 65 245 94 133 58 255 112 191 59 185 66 
			 December 2005 176 95 285 189 147 106 308 188 218 101 203 104 
			 January 2006 155 44 276 88 132 58 275 90 216 46 190 59 
			 February 2006 190 59 310 111 164 56 328 97 260 67 235 54 
			 March 2006 164 95 279 176 144 70 293 192 215 92 204 91 
			 April 2006 172 69 300 105 154 62 300 111 214 67 214 50 
			 May 2006 174 91 293 169 145 76 303 155 210 80 205 87 
			 June 2006 180 115 286 187 143 85 296 211 210 112 191 102 
			 July 2006 179 71 298 102 146 63 306 124 220 65 202 83 
			 August 2006 171 89 292 136 159 52 293 150 200 81 210 79 
			 September 2006 191 93 311 185 142 92 293 192 215 116 213 106 
			 October 2006 200 68 326 111 151 78 299 120 221 82 222 79 
			 November 2006 205 74 329 107 161 71 315 142 224 74 218 66 
			 December 2006 204 110 333 200 175 88 340 226 224 109 236 107 
			 January 2007 206 75 334 151 184 66 325 160 210 70 226 82 
		
	
	
		
			   Fermanagh and South Tyrone  Foyle  Lagan Valley  Mid Ulster  Newry and Armagh  North Antrim 
			   Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial 
			 August 2005 99 47 228 114 157 86 141 55 158 67 208 77 
			 September 2005 104 63 253 109 163 90 141 79 171 83 190 122 
			 October 2005 98 34 220 118 163 74 132 52 152 57 193 76 
			 November 2005 117 28 281 101 171 61 149 42 177 52 223 74 
			 December 2005 121 66 286 192 183 119 160 84 190 115 233 113 
			 January 2006 114 34 269 77 189 51 152 41 184 43 223 45 
			 February 2006 140 30 313 80 214 75 167 54 205 62 240 60 
			 March 2006 131 61 267 179 183 95 159 88 183 87 209 122 
			 April 2006 129 49 288 107 187 66 162 53 191 60 226 63 
			 May 2006 135 50 268 151 177 93 163 72 193 84 205 91 
			 June 2006 126 58 269 157 173 121 170 75 187 113 207 126 
			 July 2006 118 40 272 107 177 84 174 59 182 67 217 65 
			 August 2006 123 48 269 115 179 69 160 50 197 57 207 77 
			 September 2006 125 60 280 179 189 114 169 80 192 120 216 134 
			 October 2006 123 42 286 110 186 75 162 70 199 67 229 77 
			 November 2006 119 42 311 113 191 81 145 64 213 55 229 76 
			 December 2006 135 66 313 178 200 114 160 92 222 135 239 125 
			 January 2007 126 56 314 123 190 68 177 53 214 82 240 94 
		
	
	
		
			   North Down  South Antrim  South Down  Strangford  Upper Bann  West Tyrone 
			   Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial  Nil  Partial 
			 August 2005 151 47 190 68 171 62 193 86 207 124 129 53 
			 September 2005 157 76 210 94 187 87 201 107 228 161 133 66 
			 October 2005 141 59 201 64 175 77 200 80 205 115 128 36 
			 November 2005 149 58 204 63 194 63 213 94 219 116 130 43 
			 December 2005 165 81 227 91 215 100 228 129 241 187 139 91 
			 January 2006 153 38 205 58 187 68 219 75 247 89 127 31 
			 February 2006 182 43 223 58 218 57 239 74 277 104 154 47 
			 March 2006 154 83 208 95 185 90 212 134 246 158 139 74 
			 April 2006 172 48 214 62 194 70 218 80 262 105 147 41 
			 May 2006 163 77 196 91 193 101 213 112 251 117 144 72 
			 June 2006 166 92 213 113 189 117 220 119 237 164 143 90 
			 July 2006 184 57 226 62 210 71 214 95 252 109 152 58 
			 August 2006 182 58 197 88 212 71 216 89 249 96 172 54 
			 September 2006 185 92 221 112 219 109 238 115 261 143 182 75 
			 October 2006 179 59 221 89 213 89 230 88 249 119 170 44 
			 November 2006 175 68 217 96 224 70 218 83 276 84 161 51 
			 December 2006 204 85 230 128 225 131 243 136 292 142 172 86 
			 January 2007 191 63 221 86 228 93 236 90 279 101 168 49

Identity Cards

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Home Office in relation to the operation of the national identity card scheme in Northern Ireland; and what estimate he has made of the resources needed to operate the scheme in Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: I have not made any assessment of the likely cost of implementing the scheme in Northern Ireland because the cost of issuing ID cards along with passports is, as an excepted matter, a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The Northern Ireland Office and the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister are represented at official level on interdepartmental groups convened by the Home Office to look at identity issues and, in particular, the role of ID cards. The decision about whether, andif so how, ID cards are to be used in the provisionsof services in Northern Ireland will be a matterfor a future Northern Ireland Executive following restoration.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on her definition of collusion.

Peter Hain: The Secretary of State has not met the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to discussher definition of collusion but rather to explorethe findings of a recent report into the murder of Raymond McCourt Jnr.

Primary Education

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students attended a maintained primary school in Northern Ireland in  (a) 1995-96 and  (b) 2005-06.

Maria Eagle: In 1995-96, 91,246 children attended Catholic maintained, and 1,083 children attendedother maintained, primary schools. In 2005-06, 77,678 children attended Catholic maintained, and 2,181 attended other maintained, primary schools.
	These figures include children in nursery, reception and year one to seven classes.

Departments: Databases

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchyof Lancaster what databases are controlled by her Department and its agencies; and what percentage of the data in each database she estimates is inaccurate or out of date.

Patrick McFadden: The following lists the databases controlled by the Department. This has been compiled from existing records of significant departmental databases. It does not include all locally-based data collections that sit across departmental networks, the collection of which would incur disproportionate costs.
	 Database title
	HR—human resources
	CORAS—resource accounting
	Fast Stream Recruitment—graduate recruitment
	Stock Database—regulations management
	Forward Look—regulations management
	Cabinet Committee Papers—management and distribution of Cabinet Committee papers
	e-RM—electronic records management
	CMS—case management system
	E-Payfact—payroll administration
	Cross Government Exercise—crisis management
	Government Communications Network—member database
	Government IT Profession—member database
	EPCIS—Emergency Planning College information system
	Central Application Repository—Civil Service Pensions administration
	The Information on these databases whichwould be required to estimate the percentages of data inaccuracies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	My Department takes all appropriate measures to ensure the quality of data under its control.

Aerials: Planning Permission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she willamend planning regulations to require Network Rail telecommunications masts to receive planning permission.

Ruth Kelly: There are no current plans to review the permitted development rights of railway undertakers.

Bath Spa Project

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) original budget was and  (b) current expected outturn is for the Bath Spa project; what proportion ofthe budget has been provided from Millennium Commission funding; what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of the use of public funds on the project; who will be responsible for meeting any budget overspend; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: I have been asked to reply.
	The Millennium Commission (now succeeded by the Big Lottery Fund) awarded a grant of £6,778, 884 in November 1997 for the Bath Spa project, whichhad an original budget of £13,557,768. In April 1999, budgeted costs rose to £18, 250,000, and the Millennium Commission grant was increased by £1 million to £7,778,884. The final grant payment was released at the end of 2006, with the cost of the main project (as at August 2006) rising to £33,339,955.
	The Big Lottery Fund is very pleased with the completed Revitalising Bath Spa project which is as a wonderful addition to Bath's architecture and one which provides an excellent new facility.

Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Communities and Local Government what consideration her Department gave to the application on behalf of the Cornish for inclusion in the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Meg Munn: The United Kingdom ratified the Framework Convention on the understanding that it would be applied with reference to "racial groups" within the meaning of Section 3(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976, which is to say any groups defined by "colour, race, nationality or national or ethnic origins". For the purposes of the Framework Convention it would of course also be necessary for the group to be a minority in the UK.
	Since the United Kingdom Government ratifiedthe Framework Convention, a number of Cornish organisations and individuals have made representations to the Government arguing that the Cornish should be considered within the scope of the Framework Convention's application in the United Kingdom. The Government therefore included Cornish organisations in its consultation prior to the preparation of this 2(nd) report under the Framework Convention. It also circulated the draft report to a number of Cornish organisations and individuals which had approached the Government on the issue since then. A number of these organisations and individuals submitted comments on the draft report. The Government have considered the arguments put forward for the inclusion, but has not been convinced that a move away from the definition of racial group in Section 3(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976 can be justified. The Government consider that the UK's enormous diversity, embracing individuals of many different (and sometimes multiple) ethnic, national, cultural and faith identities is a matter for celebration and a source of national strength. The Government are very much aware of the strength of feeling about Cornwall's separate identity and distinctiveness. The fact that some groups may not meet the definition of racial group from the Race Relations Act 1976 has not been a barrier to the UK's many communities being able to maintain and celebrate their distinct identities.

Council Tax: Second Homes

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities in England impose council tax on second homes; at what rate each authority has set the council tax; and for what purposes they have used the additional revenue generated.

Phil Woolas: All local authorities in England levy council tax on second homes, although many haveused the discretionary powers contained in the Local Government Act 2003 to reduce the discount on second homes below 50 per cent.
	A table listing authorities in England and the discount they grant second homes has been placedin the Library of the House. The data are as at18 September 2006 and are reported by billing authorities to Communities and Local Government on CTB Supplementary forms.
	It is for local authorities to determine how any additional revenue generated through a reduction in the second homes discount should be spent in the light of local priorities. The Department does not collect this information.

Councillors: Age

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average age of councillors was in England in  (a) 1986,  (b) 1996 and  (c) 2006.

Phil Woolas: The average age of councillors in England rose from 55.4 in 1997 to 58.3 in 2006 (see the following table). A figure for 1997 has been included in the absence of an estimate for 1996. No equivalent figure is available for 1986.
	As an alternative, estimates of the percentage of councillors aged under 45 years are also provided. Here, a downward trend is evident, with 26 per cent. of councillors under 45 in 1985 (in England and Wales), 18.4 per cent. in 1997, and 13.5 per cent. in 2006.
	
		
			   1985  1997  2006 
			 Average age of councillors in England (years) — 55.4 58.3 
			 Councillors under 45 years of age (percentage) (1)26 18.4 13.5 
			 (1) England and Wales.  Sources: 1. Widdicombe Committee, 1986. 2. 1997 Census of Local Authority Councillors, IDeA. 3. 2006 Census of Local Authority Councillors, IDeA. 
		
	
	A new Councillors Commission, announced on8 February 2007, will consider the average age of councillors as part of its wider remit to consider barriers and incentives to becoming a councillor.

European Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what plans she has  (a) to complete and  (b) to publish thesecond UK compliance report under the European Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities;
	(2)  what the  (a) planned and  (b) actual timetable was for the publication of the report on UK compliance with the European Framework Convention was for the Protection of National Minorities.

Meg Munn: The UK's 2(nd) compliance report under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been completed and was transmitted to the Council of Europe in February 2007. The report sets out the important progress the UK has made towards honouring this commitment. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament. The Council of Europe have also placed the report on their website (www.coe.int). The report was originally due for submission to the Council of Europe in May 2004.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the laying and ratification of revised secondary legislation on Home Information Packs.

Ruth Kelly: We intend to lay the amended Home Information Pack Regulations on 29 March in timefor the introduction of the compulsory scheme on1 June 2007.

Housing: Design for Manufacture Competition

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what she expects the purchase price to be of the homes built under the Design for Manufacture competition at the Renny Lodge site in Newport Pagnell referred to in her predecessor's Department's news release of 3 November 2005.

Yvette Cooper: The 10 sites in the Design for Manufacture competition have been brought forward with the aim of producing mixed communities with homes occupied under a variety of tenures. Some of the homes built through the competition will be for social rent, some will be for sale on a shared equity or shared ownership basis, including Homebuy and the First Time Buyers Initiative (FTBI), and some will be available for outright sale on the open market.
	The competition challenged the homebuilding industry to build high quality, well-designed two bedroom homes, with an internal floor area of 76.5m(2), for a construction cost of £60,000. All sites will include homes built within these parameters, with the remainder made up of larger and smaller units built at an equivalent cost-efficiency.
	All sites will include a proportion of affordable housing. This includes social rent and different kinds of shared ownership. The price of the units for sale reflects the land value, the local market and the equity share as well as the construction cost.
	A Renny Lodge, in Newport Pagnell, a total of68 homes will be built, 54 of which will be affordable. Of these, 33 will be available under the FTBI. The remaining 21 will be made available to the RSL, 14 of which will be available through the Homebuy scheme, three at a reduced market sale and four for social rent.
	For those homes available under the Homebuy shared ownership arrangements a 30 per cent. equity stake in a two bedroom home will be made available for an expected price of between £42,000 and £46,000.
	The FTBI homes will typically be available at equity stakes from 50 per cent. starting at around £71,500 for a one bedroom flat.
	Two bedroom homes available for sale on the open market have been reserved from £140,000.

Race Relations Act 1976

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether  (a) Welsh and  (b) Irish people meet the definition of racial groups under the Race Relations Act 1976; and what definition her Department uses of the term (i) racial and (ii) ethnic.

Phil Woolas: Section 3(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976 states that "racial group" means
	"a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins..."
	The determination of whether a particular groupmeets this definition is ultimately a matter for the courts, rather than the Government. However, our understanding is that the Welsh and Irish do meet the definition of racial group under the Race Relations Act. Outside the context of the Race Relations Act this Department is not prescriptive in its everyday use of the terms "racial" and "ethnic".

Legal Aid: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which advice agencies in London were in receipt of legal aid in the last two years; how much each received in each year; how much each is expected to be allocated under new arrangements; what the percentage difference is in each case between the most recent amount received and the amount expected to be allocated under the new arrangements; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The statistics provided in the following table refer to work conducted by contracted suppliers only.
	New arrangements for funding will bring the allocation of funds in the next two years closer to estimates of need. Amounts received by not for profit agencies under these arrangements will depend on their ability to deliver advice at competitive rates.
	
		
			  £ 
			  London NFPs  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Brixton Advice Centre 130,439 130,439 
			 Immigration Advisory Service 368,629 468,429 
			 Barking and Dagenham CAB 0 43,729 
			 Battersea Law Centre 319,388 336,967 
			 Afro-Asian Advisory Service 66,961 66,800 
			 Blackfriars Advice Centre 181,256 208,808 
			 Bermondsey CAB 203,034 200,057 
			 Kilburn CAB 127,214 127,614 
			 Catford CAB 83,647 164,341 
			 Hackney CAB (Mare Street) 66,625 66,625 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham CAB 53,266 63,452 
			 Haringey CAB 147,282 123,303 
			 Kensington CAB 133,792 180,822 
			 Leytonstone CAB 197,824 211,417 
			 Newham CAB 228,699 413,364 
			 Paddington CAB 113,707 25,505 
			 Pimlico CAB 64,888 16,222 
			 Roehampton CAB 93,285 136,238 
			 Westminster Citizens Advice 225,868 366,142 
			 Sydenham CAB 64,888 64,888 
			 CAB—Thornton Heath 66,720 67,720 
			 Tooting and Balham CAB 67,634 67,634 
			 Tower Hamlets East CAB 163,870 180,042 
			 Islington CAB 127,059 47,772 
			 Walthamstow CAB 125,441 121,946 
			 CAB—Whitechapel 96,084 142,347 
			 Brent CAB 175,905 259,004 
			 Cambridge House and Talbot 130,409 178,093 
			 Camden Community Law Centre 265,205 275,058 
			 Camden Tribunal Rights Unit 62,092 73,182 
			 Central London Law Centre 93,802 107,856 
			 Centre 70 Advice 143,721 142,196 
			 CHAS CL 67,511 67,511 
			 Chinese Information and Advice Centre 133,393 139,773 
			 Clapham Community Project 68,582 68,582 
			 Community Links 199,006 240,069 
			 DIAL Waltham Forest 64,760 64,760 
			 Disability in Camden 65,936 65,936 
			 Disability Law Service 79,201 68,730 
			 Fulham Legal Advice Centre 57,826 57,826 
			 Greenwich Community Law Centre 76,133 75,366 
			 Greenwich Housing Rights 33,904 30,433 
			 Hackney Community Law Centre 337,548 333,357 
			 Hackney Consumer Advice Centre 196,075 196,075 
			 Hounslow Law Centre 93,243 107,902 
			 Island Advice Centre 149,781 96,265 
			 LASA Appeals Team 134,116 141,039 
			 Law for All—Acton Law Shop 1,194,654 1,364,531 
			 Lewisham Money Advice Centre 128,777 128,777 
			 Mary Ward Legal Centre 438,652 658,137 
			 Migrants Resource Centre 66,557 66,557 
			 Islington Law Centre 263,053 285,646 
			 North Kensington Law Centre 536,117 525,364 
			 Lewisham Law Centre Ltd. 242,126 218,182 
			 Nucleus 63,364 104,685 
			 Paddington Law Centre 215,795 194,480 
			 Plumstead Community Law Centre 178,600 138,386 
			 Southwark Law Centre 202,432 200,447 
			 Springfield Advice and Law Centre 160,224 98,028 
			 Threshold Hammersmith 67,396 67,396 
			 Threshold Wandsworth 130,500 144,001 
			 Wandsworth and Merton Law Centre 216,307 179,500 
			 Wandsworth Money Advice Service 66,871 66,871 
			 World's End Neighbourhood Advice Centre 126,280 108,040 
			 Camden Community Law Centre 40,815 0 
			 Refugee Advice Centre 38,631 38,631 
			 Merton Citizens Advice Bureaux Ltd. 101,755 129,990 
			 Carshalton and Wallington CAB 141,774 201,538 
			 Thamesmead Law Centre 113,734 134,695 
			 Barnet Law Service 104,130 64,853 
			 Wandsworth and Merton Law Centre 167,436 245,568 
			 Asylum Aid 142,909 67,613 
			 Kingston CABX Service 79,257 79,257 
			 Brent Private Tenants'rights Group 39,679 35,600 
			 Bromley Citizens Advice Specialist Servs 49,291 130,417 
			 Islington People's Rights 0 0 
			 Tamil Welfare Association (Newham) UK 33,981 77,178 
			 Oxford House in Bethnal Green 92,545 83,647 
			 Streetwise Community Law Centre Ltd. 85,934 177,818 
			 Tower Hamlets Law Centre 474,634 515,208 
			 Hillingdon Law Centre 155,902 104,207 
			 Enfield Law Centre 83,466 92,706 
			 Southwark Race and Equalities Council 28,103 97,248 
			 Shelter—London Housing Aid Services 0 49,127 
			 Brent Private Tenants Right Group 39,489 35,600 
			 Law for All (Acton Office) 255,854 204,305 
			 Battersea CAB 33,486 33,486 
			 Dalston Citzens Advice Bureau 43,178 31,319 
			 Haringey Law Centre 72,674 74,485 
			 Kingston and Richmond Law Centre 43,694 99,796 
			 Croydon and Sutton Law Centre 15,471 110,063 
			 Lambeth Law Centre 0 199,518 
			 Havering CAB 0 33,904 
			 Island Advice 0 67,682 
			 Sub-total 12,921,176 14,596,125 
			 Redbridge Refugee Forum 0 34,132 
			 Refugee Legal Centre (London Region) 2,485,842 2,584,205 
			 Immigration Advisory Service (Hounslow) 821,737 493,480 
			 Immigration Advisory Service (London) 2,434,144 -338,966 
			 Refugee Legal Centre (London Region) 2,031,835 477,277 
			 Immigration Advisory Service 950,650 619,623 
			 Total 21,645,383 18,465,876

Legal Aid: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what effect she expects the planned legal aid changes to have on the availability in London of  (a) advice agencies and  (b) private sector legal advice in relation to (i) welfare rights, (ii) family law and (iii) immigration and asylum; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for the Command paper "Legal Aid: the Way Ahead" was published in December 2006. A revised draft RIAwas published alongside the family fee schemes consultation on 1 March 2007. These contain details of the potential impact of the legal aid changes on both not for profit and private sector providers in London for social welfare law and family law respectively. An impact assessment on the immigration and asylum scheme will be published shortly. The regulatory impact assessment analysis is based around historic behaviour and under a fixed fee scheme we would expect provider behaviour to change in order to maximise efficiency and prepare for future competition.

Legal Aid: Reform

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what effect on costs to the public purse she expects to arise from the planned legal aid changes in  (a) London and  (b) England; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The savings from the reform package will amount to over £100 million per annum by 2009-10. Savings will be made in criminal legal aid while civil and family expenditure is expected to continue togrow. This applies to England and Wales. No separate assessment has been made for London.

Polling Stations

Anthony Steen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what provisions there arefor a parish council to challenge a returning officer's decision on the appropriate location of a polling station for  (a) district and  (b) general elections; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: There is no statutory provision for challenging the decision of a returning officer on the appropriate location of a polling station for a district council election.
	Section 18D of the Representation of the People Act 1983 allows a parish council to challenge a local authority's decision on the location of a pollingplace within a parliamentary constituency following a statutory review, by making a representation to the Electoral Commission.

Public Records: Disclosure of Information

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will publish in full all documentation referring to the Shrewsbury Two which is held in the Public Record Office, including those papers, and parts of papers, retained under section 3(4) of the Public RecordsAct 1958.

Vera Baird: Records identified and held by The National Archives relating to the Shrewsbury Two are open and available to researchers. A small number of papers have been retained under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act and are held with the department of origin and not at The National Archives.

Departments: Freedom of Information

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of monitoring the time spent processing requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the purposes of the proposed fees regulations.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on by the Parliamentary Secretary of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Education: Finance

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his written statement of 20 February 2007,  Official Report, column 22WS, on the winter supplementary estimate 2006-07,whether he plans to make a statement on the spring supplementary estimate 2006-07.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement issued on 20 February,  Official Report, column 22WS.

English Language

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that those with limited English language skills who are claiming tax credit will be supported in making an application for free remission under proposed new arrangements for English as a second or other language provision.

Phil Hope: All those applying for an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course will be eligible for full fee remission if they are in receipt of jobseekers allowance or an income related benefit including working tax credit.
	They will be supported in their applications by their local college or training provider. The local learning and skills council will be able to provide details of local provision.
	A race equality impact assessment is currentlybeing conducted that considers further the impact of proposed changes to eligibility for ESOL courses and this will be published shortly.

English Language: Mathematics

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of people aged 19 achieved  (a) level 2 by (i) the age of 16 and (ii) the age of 19 and  (b) level 3 by the age of 19 in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Figures reporting attainment by age 19 are only available on the current basis of measurement, using matched administrative data, from 2004 onwards. The latest Statistical First Release (SFR) on attainment by age 19 was published in February 2007 (SFR 06/2007).
	Table 1 shows the proportion of people aged 19 that have achieved level 2 by 16, level 2 by 19, and level 3 by 19 each year since 2004.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Percentage 
			   2004  2005  2006 
			 Level 2 by 16(1) 49.2 50.3 52.2 
			 Level 2 by 19 66.3 69.3 71.4 
			 Level 3 by 19 42.1 45.6 46.8 
			 (1) Level 2 by 16 for those aged 19 in 2004, 2005 and 2006. E.g. 52.2 per cent. of those aged 19 in 2006 had reached level 2 by age 16—in academic year 2002/03. 
		
	
	These figures for 16-year-olds differ from other published figures on the attainment of pupils aged 15 in schools and colleges (SFR 01/2007) because different denominators are used, there are differences in qualifications counted and matching means the numerators are not quite the same.
	Table 2 shows the proportion of pupils aged 15 in schools and colleges achieving a level 2 each year since 1997.
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   Proportion (percentage) 
			 1996/97 45.1 
			 1997/98 46.3 
			 1998/99 47.9 
			 1999/2000 49.2 
			 2000/01 50.0 
			 2001/02 51.6 
			 2002/03 52.9 
			 2003/04 53.7 
			 2004/05 56.3 
			 2005/06 58.5

Free School Meals

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy that people in receipt of working tax credit do not qualify for free school meals for their children; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Government's working tax credit provides additional financial support to all 'working families' that have low incomes. We believe that free school meals should be available to 'non-working' families, who we consider are most in need of this additional help.
	Children whose parents are in receipt of the following are entitled to receive free school meals:
	income support;
	income based job seekers allowance;
	support under part VI of the Immigration and AsylumAct 1999;
	child tax credit provided they are not entitled to working tax credit and have an annual income (as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) that as of 6 April 2007 does not exceed £14,495;
	the guarantee element of state pension credit.
	Children who receive income support or income based jobseekers allowance in their own right are also eligible to receive free school meals.

Higher Education: Sunderland

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of children in  (a) Houghton and Washington, East constituency and  (b) Sunderland city council area progressed to higher education in each year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation in higher education by constituency were published by the Higher Education funding Council for England in January 2005 in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their websiteat http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/ This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by constituency, for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures for Houghton and Washington, East, and the comparable figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced participation rates beyond 2000.
	
		
			  Young Participation Rate (YPR (A)) in Higher Education( 1)  for Year cohort aged 18 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			 Cohort for Houghton and Washington East (2) 1,230 1,290 1,260 1,160 
			 Young Participation Rate (A) for Houghton and Washington, East 18 18 18 19 
			 Young Participation Rate (A) for England 29.2 28.8 29.2 29.9 
			 (1) Covers all students studying Higher Education Courses at UK Higher Education Institutions and other UK institutions, for example Further Education Colleges. (2) Cohorts are reported to the nearest 10. (3) Young Participation Rates for constituencies are reported to the nearest percentage.  Source:  Higher Education Funding Council for England. 
		
	
	The total number of entrants from Houghton and Washington, East for each year since 1997/98 are given in the table:
	
		
			  English domiciled entrants aged 18 to undergraduate courses at all UK Higher Education Institutions 
			   Total  Of which: 
			   English domiciled  Sunderland local authority area  Houghton and Washington, East constituency  Unknown local authority area 
			  Academic year 
			 1997/98 108,285 565 170 9,355 
			 1998/99 114,655 580 180 3,860 
			 1999/2000 114,940 565 160 1,640 
			 2000/01 117,430 590 190 1,370 
			 2001/02 123,695 645 190 1,350 
			 2002/03 125,720 635 175 2,470 
			 2003/04 129,375 705 225 665 
			 2004/05 131,840 685 190 570 
			 2005/06 146,330 780 230 785 
			  Notes:  Figures are on a DfES snapshot basis and are rounded to the nearest 5. Excludes the Open University. Unknown LA area covers English domiciled students who did not provide a valid postcode, from which local authority area and constituency are derived.  Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	The Department uses the higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18-30 in higher education towards 50 per cent.: the latest provisional figure for 2004/05 is 42 per cent.. The HEIPR is not calculated at constituency level.

Languages

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of20 February 2007,  Official Report, column 696W, on GCSEs, if he will list the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils were entered for a GCSE in  (a) a modern foreign language,  (b) history and  (c) geography in 2006;
	(2)  how many 15-year-olds attended the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils were entered for a GCSE in  (a) a modern foreign language,  (b) history and  (c) geography in 2006.

Jim Knight: The following table lists the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils at the end of key stage 4 (KS4) were entered at GCSE in history and gives the number of pupils at the end of KS4 who attended these schools in 2006.
	
		
			  LA number  Estab number  LA name  School name  Number of pupils at end of KS4 
			 208 4322 Lambeth Stockwell Park High School 174 
			 211 4284 Tower Hamlets Bethnal Green Technology College 165 
			 304 5401 Brent Copland—a specialist science community college 229 
			 315 4057 Merton Tamworth Manor High School 107 
			 316 4034 Newham Eastlea Community School 197 
			 320 4063 Waltham Forest Heathcote School 156 
			 330 4334 Birmingham Al-Hijrah Secondary School 48 
			 330 5900 Birmingham St. Paul's Community Foundation School 11 
			 331 4039 Coventry Ernesford Grange Community School—a specialist science college 200 
			 332 4117 Dudley The Hillcrest School and Community College 126 
			 335 4100 Walsall Darlaston Community Science College 206 
			 335 6905 Walsall Walsall Academy 54 
			 336 4115 Wolverhampton Deansfield High School 138 
			 340 4014 Knowsley Prescot School 177 
			 340 5400 Knowsley St. Thomas Becket Catholic High School 128 
			 341 5401 Liverpool Our Lady's Catholic High School 1 
			 343 4007 Sefton Ainsdale High School 2 
			 344 4017 Wirral Park High School 192 
			 352 4286 Manchester Newall Green High School 180 
			 355 6905 Salford Salford City Academy 101 
			 357 4025 Tameside Hyde Technology School and Hearing Impaired Resource Base 181 
			 357 5401 Tameside West Hill School 165 
			 358 4015 Trafford Lostock College 96 
			 370 4019 Barnsley The Elmhirst School 89 
			 373 4228 Sheffield Waltheof School 207 
			 380 4041 Bradford Belle Vue Girls' School 162 
			 391 4500 Newcastle upon Tyne All Saints College 188 
			 801 4038 Bristol, City of Withywood Community School 161 
			 801 4046 Bristol, City of Speedwell Technology College 204 
			 806 6905 Middlesbrough Unity City Academy 187 
			 808 4106 Stockton-on-Tees Blakeston School—a community sports college 169 
			 812 4008 North East Lincolnshire Havelock School 130 
			 826 4085 Milton Keynes Sir Frank Markham Community School 291 
			 826 5400 Milton Keynes Stantonbury Campus 512 
			 830 4103 Derbyshire Frederick Gent School 174 
			 830 4195 Derbyshire Parkside Community School 113 
			 831 4608 Derby da Vinci Community College 91 
			 840 4180 Durham Sunnydale Community College for Maths and Computing 110 
			 845 4062 East Sussex Eastbourne Technology College 176 
			 846 4022 Brighton and Hove Falmer High School 138 
			 851 4615 Portsmouth St.Luke's C of E VA Secondary School 112 
			 856 4249 Leicester Hamilton Community College 208 
			 860 4066 Staffordshire Norton Canes High School 93 
			 871 4085 Slough Beechwood School 88 
			 879 4193 Plymouth Parkside Community College 50 
			 881 4002 Essex Bishops Park College 3 
			 881 5456 Essex Barstable School 173 
			 882 5434 Southend-on-Sea Belfairs High School 216 
			 886 4122 Kent Ellington School for Girls 87 
			 886 5419 Kent Angley School—a sports college 182 
			 886 5421 Kent The Canterbury High School 183 
			 886 6906 Kent The Marlowe Academy 82 
			 889 4409 Blackburn with Darwen Queen's Park Technology College 2 
			 892 4460 Nottingham The River Leen School 149 
			 909 4304 Cumbria The Alfred Barrow School 91 
			 916 5413 Gloucestershire Central Technology College 93 
			 919 4029 Hertfordshire Adeyfield School 145 
			 925 4059 Lincolnshire The Mablethorpe Tennyson High School 89 
			 925 4067 Lincolnshire Queen Eleanor Technology College 104 
			 925 4609 Lincolnshire St. Clements College 207 
			 925 5419 Lincolnshire The Grantham Church (VA) High School 71 
			 925 5422 Lincolnshire St. Hugh's C of E Mathematics and Computing College 71 
			 928 5406 Northamptonshire Manor School and Sports College 117 
			 933 5401 Somerset Brymore School 54 
			 935 4600 Suffolk St. Benedict's Catholic School 141 
			 Total8,947 
		
	
	The following table lists the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils at the end of KS4 were entered at GCSE in geography and gives the number of pupils at the end of KS4 who attended these schools in 2006.
	
		
			  LA number  Estab number  LA name  School name  Number of pupils at end of KS4 
			 207 4681 Kensington and Chelsea Saint Thomas More Language College 121 
			 210 4215 Southwark Walworth School 256 
			 210 4725 Southwark Archbishop Michael Ramsey Technology College 158 
			 211 4024 Tower Hamlets Bow School 82 
			 211 4284 Tower Hamlets Bethnal Green Technology College 165 
			 212 4329 Wandsworth Battersea Technology College 94 
			 304 5403 Brent Queens Park Community School 194 
			 306 6900 Croydon BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology 124 
			 316 4016 Newham Rokeby School 158 
			 316 4034 Newham Eastlea Community School 197 
			 320 4063 Waltham Forest Heathcote School 156 
			 330 4008 Birmingham Saltley School and Specialist Science College 176 
			 330 4332 Birmingham The Heartlands High School 95 
			 330 4611 Birmingham St. Alban's C of E School 72 
			 330 5900 Birmingham St. Paul's Community Foundation School 11 
			 331 4000 Coventry Barr's Hill School and Community College 80 
			 331 4039 Coventry Ernesford Grange Community School—a specialist science college 200 
			 332 4117 Dudley The Hillcrest School and Community College 126 
			 333 5400 Sandwell Manor Foundation Business, Enterprise & Sports College 145 
			 335 4100 Walsall Darlaston Community Science College 206 
			 335 6905 Walsall Walsall Academy 54 
			 340 4003 Knowsley Brookfield High School 160 
			 340 4014 Knowsley Prescot School 177 
			 340 4017 Knowsley Bowring Community Sports College 162 
			 340 5400 Knowsley St. Thomas Becket Catholic High School 128 
			 341 5401 Liverpool Our Lady's Catholic High School 1 
			 344 4017 Wirral Park High School 192 
			 352 4286 Manchester Newall Green High School 180 
			 352 6905 Manchester Manchester Academy 136 
			 355 4018 Salford Beis Yaakov High School 34 
			 355 6905 Salford Salford City Academy 101 
			 357 4025 Tameside Hyde Technology School and Hearing Impaired Resource Base 181 
			 359 4800 Wigan Saint Thomas More Catholic High School 127 
			 370 4019 Barnsley The Elmhirst School 89 
			 371 4020 Doncaster North Doncaster Technology College 248 
			 373 4228 Sheffield Waltheof School 207 
			 380 4022 Bradford Belle Vue Boys' School 81 
			 380 4033 Bradford Wyke Manor School 169 
			 380 4041 Bradford Belle Vue Girls' School 162 
			 380 4101 Bradford Grange Technology College 289 
			 380 4613 Bradford Feversham College 89 
			 380 5404 Bradford Laisterdyke Business & Enterprise College 174 
			 383 4044 Leeds Primrose High School 119 
			 801 4046 Bristol, City of Speedwell Technology College 204 
			 806 6905 Middlesbrough Unity City Academy 187 
			 810 4454 Kingston Upon Hull,City of Isaac Newton School 105 
			 812 4008 North East Lincolnshire Havelock School 130 
			 813 4075 North Lincolnshire Brumby Engineering College 148 
			 826 4085 Milton Keynes Sir Frank Markham Community School 291 
			 826 5400 Milton Keynes Stantonbury Campus 512 
			 830 4103 Derbyshire Frederick Gent School 174 
			 830 4200 Derbyshire Springwell Community School 158 
			 831 4177 Derby Bemrose Community School 132 
			 831 4608 Derby da Vinci Community College 91 
			 836 4104 Poole Carter Community School 107 
			 845 4062 East Sussex Eastbourne Technology College 176 
			 846 4022 Brighton and Hove Falmer High School 138 
			 856 4252 Leicester Riverside Community College 166 
			 856 4270 Leicester Babington Community Technology College 208 
			 861 4185 Stoke-on-Trent Mitchell High School 105 
			 866 4087 Swindon Headlands 158 
			 876 4218 Halton Halton High School 111 
			 881 4002 Essex Bishops Park College 3 
			 882 5430 Southend-on-Sea The Thorpe Bay School 114 
			 886 5413 Kent Oldborough Manor Community School 106 
			 886 5419 Kent Angley School—a sports college 182 
			 886 5421 Kent The Canterbury High School 183 
			 886 5453 Kent Montgomery School 44 
			 886 6906 Kent The Marlowe Academy 82 
			 888 4005 Lancashire Skerton Community High School 55 
			 888 4042 Lancashire Burnley Towneley High School 145 
			 891 4008 Nottinghamshire Kirkby College 144 
			 891 4041 Nottinghamshire Garibaldi College 200 
			 892 4460 Nottingham The River Leen School 149 
			 909 4304 Cumbria The Alfred Barrow School 91 
			 916 5413 Gloucestershire Central Technology College 93 
			 919 4029 Hertfordshire Adeyfield School 145 
			 925 4061 Lincolnshire Birkbeck School and Community Arts College 72 
			 925 4067 Lincolnshire Queen Eleanor Technology College 104 
			 925 4609 Lincolnshire St. Clements College 207 
			 925 5414 Lincolnshire Joseph Ruston Technology College 92 
			 925 5419 Lincolnshire The Grantham Church (VA) High School 71 
			 928 5406 Northamptonshire Manor School and Sports College 117 
			 931 4005 Oxfordshire Drayton School 94 
			 935 4600 Suffolk St. Benedict's Catholic School 141 
			 Total12,011 
		
	
	The following table lists the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils at the end of KS4 were entered at GCSE in a modern foreign language and gives the number of pupils at the end of KS4 who attended these schools in 2006.
	
		
			  LA number  Estab number  LA name  School name  Number of pupils at end of KS4 
			 330 4206 Birmingham Stockland Green Technology College 121 
			 330 5900 Birmingham St. Paul's Community Foundation School 11 
			 335 6905 Walsall Walsall Academy 54 
			 341 4783 Liverpool Campion Catholic High School 100 
			 341 4795 Liverpool De La Salle Humanities College 117 
			 341 5401 Liverpool Our Lady's Catholic High School 1 
			 381 4036 Calderdale The Ridings School 118 
			 805 4131 Hartlepool Dyke House Comprehensive School 159 
			 806 4122 Middlesbrough Ormesby School 158 
			 810 4004 Kingston Upon Hull, City of Kingswood High School 218 
			 825 4094 Buckinghamshire The Wye Valley School 124 
			 831 4608 Derby da Vinci Community College 91 
			 840 4052 Durham Fyndoune Community College 86 
			 840 4192 Durham Durham Community Business College for Technology and Enterprise 111 
			 851 4302 Portsmouth King Richard Secondary School 203 
			 861 4185 Stoke-on-Trent Mitchell High School 105 
			 867 4030 Bracknell Forest The Brakenhale School 109 
			 870 4013 Reading Thamesbridge College 78 
			 881 4002 Essex Bishops Park College 3 
			 881 5417 Essex Furtherwick Park School 151 
			 883 4299 Thurrock The Ockendon School 133 
			 888 4005 Lancashire Skerton Community High School 55 
			 909 4301 Cumbria The Morton School 140 
			 925 5410 Lincolnshire The Castle Hills Community Arts College 119 
			 933 5401 Somerset Brymore School 54 
			 Total2,619 
		
	
	Data for 2006 is revised.

Schools: Catering

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what grants for capital spending to improve kitchen facilities were made to schools in each year from 1990-91 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department has not given specific grants to schools to improve kitchen facilities as it relies upon local authorities to prioritise the allocations they are given. These allocations have risen, in cash terms, from approximately £0.8 billion in 1990-91 to a planned £6.4 billion in 2007-08 and £8 billion in 2010-11.
	Capital guidance requires schools and local authorities to consider how, using formulaic capital funding, they can ensure that they provide at least one healthy hot meal a day on the premises, in reasonable comfort in suitable dining facilities. This objective is also taken account of within the Building Schoolsfor the Future and Academies schools building programmes.
	In September 2006, the Secretary of State announced that, in the spending review period commencing 1 April 2008, funding would be available to local authorities to support the installation of kitchens where currently there are none, and where there is exceptional need that cannot reasonably be met from other sources. We aim to announce further details later this year.

Schools: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many school playgrounds in Lancashire were sold in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how much school land in Lancashire was sold in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: Before October 1998 there was no regulation of the sale of school playing fields at most schools. In the period since then, the Secretary of State has approved eight applications that involve the sale of school land in Lancashire, as follows:
	12 March 1999—playing fields at the closed site of the formerSt. Richard's Roman Catholic High School;
	16 April 1999—playing fields at the closed site of the formerSt. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic High School;
	6 September 2000—part of the playing fields at Southlands High School, Chorley;
	7 March 2001—part of the playing fields at Baines High School, Poulton-le-Fylde;
	8 May 2001—a hard games court at Corpus Christi School in Preston;
	22 July 2002—hard play area of the closed Marsh Junior School;
	27 August 2002—hard play area at the closed site of Fleetwood High School;
	28 March 2006—a hard play and informal area at the closed site of Fairlie Primary School in Skelmersdale.

Schools: Sports

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in England have established links with an  (a) football,  (b) cricket,  (c) Rugby Union,  (d) Rugby League and  (e) tennis club in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: holding answer 5 March 2007
	Based on data collected through the annual school sport survey, which began in 2003 and collects data from schools in School Sport Partnerships, the following percentages of schools had links with these clubs:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06 
			 Football 73 75 78 
			 Cricket 45 46 52 
			 Rugby Union 39 41 46 
			 Rugby League 10 9 10 
			 Tennis 27 30 36 
		
	
	When the 2005/06 survey was conducted, 80 per cent. of maintained schools in England were in a School Sport Partnership. When the 2004/05 survey was undertaken, this figure was 54 per cent. and in 2003/04, 30 per cent. All maintained schools are now in a School Sport Partnership.

Specialist Schools

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Education and Skills what information the Government have collected on the performance of pupils at specialist schools in their school's area of specialism compared to pupils studying the same subjects in schools without that specialism.

Jim Knight: The information is not available in the form requested and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Crime: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the police detection rates were for all recorded crimes in Bedfordshire, in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The requested information for total detection rates are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table A: Detection rates for Bedfordshire police force area, 1997 
			   Percentage 
			   Detection rate 
			 1997 35 
			  Note: Police crime statistics were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997 and thereafter on a financial year basis. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Detection rates for Bedfordshire police force area, 1998-99 to 2001-02 
			   Percentage 
			   Detection rate 
			 1998-99 33 
			 1999-2000 25 
			 2000-01 27 
			 2001-02 25 
			  Note: An expanded offence coverage and revised set of counting rules were introduced in April 1998. Figures recorded before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C: Detection rates for Bedfordshire police force area, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   Percentage 
			   Detection rate 
			 2002-03 26 
			 2003-04 23 
			 2004-05 28 
			 2005-06 25 
			  Notes: 1. Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years. 2. As from 2005-06, the published detections rates by police force area are based on 'sanction' detections only (these consist of detections by charge or summons, caution, reprimand or final warning, offence taken into consideration, penalty notice for disorder, formal warning for cannabis possession). Non-sanction detections rates have been found to vary widely between forces with some now recording very few non-sanction detections. The published overall 'sanction detection rate' for Bedfordshire in 2005-06 is 21 per cent.

Crime: Durham

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of  (a) offences against the person,  (b) sexual offences,  (c) robbery,  (d) burglary,  (e) theft,  (f) fraud,  (g) drug offences and  (h) motoring offences have been recorded in the past 12 months in County Durham; and how many were recorded in 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The recorded crime figures for  (a) offences against the person,  (b) sexual offences,  (c) robbery,  (d) burglary,  (e) theft,  (f) fraud,  (g) drug offences, for the Durham police force area are given in the table for 1997 and 2005-06.
	Motoring offences are recorded in a separate collection. The latest available numbers of motoring offences dealt with by official police action within the Durham police force area are for 2004 and are given in the table together with figures for 1997.
	
		
			  Table 1: Recorded crime for Durham police force area 1997 and 2005-06( 1,2) 
			  Offence  1997( 3)  2005-06 
			 Violence against the person 1,924 9,899 
			 Sexual offences 341 694 
			 Robbery 142 281 
			 Burglary 12,209 6,660 
			 Theft and handling stolen goods 20,624 15,872 
			 Fraud and forgery 1,163 1,229 
			 Drug offences(4) 404 1,299 
			 (1) These figures have been taken from the Supplementary Tables for England and Wales 1997 and HOSB Crime In England and Wales 2005-06. (2) Numbers of recorded crimes will be affected by changes in reporting and recording. On 1 April 1998 an expanded offence coverage and revised set of counting rules came into effect. This was followed by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002. Due to these changes, figures recorded before and after these dates are not directly comparable. (3) Crime statistics were recorded on a calendar year basis up to 1997 and thereafter on a financial year basis. (4) Up until 1997-98, the only drug offence recorded was 'Trafficking in controlled drugs'. As from April 1998, drug offences were expanded to included 'Possession of controlled drugs' and 'Other drug offences'. For this reason, figures recorded before and after this date are not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Motoring offences for Durham police force area, 1997 and 2004( 1) 
			  Offence dealt with by:  1997  2004( 2) 
			 Written warning 1,299 828 
			 Vehicle defect rectification scheme notices 4,365 3,600 
			 Fixed penalty notices 21,308 12,789 
			 Court proceedings 11,980 19,215 
			 (1) These figures have been taken from the annual Home Office publication 'Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales Supplementary tables 2004 and 1997'—Tables 18,19, 20(a) and 16(a). (2) Latest available data.  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Crime: Victims

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of victims of crime were referred to Victim Support by police in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		
			  Table A 
			   Total number of referrals to Victim Support in four crime types  Referrals from the police as a percentage of the total referrals in the four crime types 
			 2001-02 970,577 90 
			 2002-03 1,104,624 90 
			 2003-04 1,044,174 91 
		
	
	From 2004-05 Victim Support have supplied OCJR with data on all referrals from the police. Table B shows the total number of victims of crime referred to victim support between 2001-02 and 2005-06 and the percentage of referrals, in all crime types, that came from the police.
	
		
			  Table B 
			   Total number of all referrals to Victim Support  Referrals from the police as a percentage of the total referrals 
			 2001-02 1,257,085 (1)— 
			 2002-03 1,404,130 (1)— 
			 2003-04 1,359,150 (1)— 
			 2004-05 1,282,223 91 
			 2005-06 1,386,915 90 
			 (1) Data not available. 
		
	
	Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented in this response are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from Victim Support's own data return. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Driving Offences: Accidents

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted  (a) for the offence of failing to give particulars or to report an accident within 24 hours,  (b) of undefined accident offences and  (c) for the offence of failing to stop after an accident in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, and given in the table, shows the number of defendants convicted for offences under section 170(4) and (7) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
	Information on 'undefined accident offences' is not held.
	
		
			  Number of persons convicted( 1)  at all courts for accident offences( 2, 3,)   England and Wales, 1996-2005 
			   Offence 
			   Failing to report an accident within 24 hours( 2)  Failing to stop after an accident( 3) 
			 1996 1,545 4,842 
			 1997 1,557 4,817 
			 1998 1,529 4,509 
			 1999 1,429 4,323 
			 2000 1,291 4,152 
			 2001 1,362 4,332 
			 2002 1,343 4,248 
			 2003 1,393 4,444 
			 2004 1,426 4,549 
			 2005 1,308 4,307 
			 (1 )These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4) and (7). (3) Offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4).   Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Firearms

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many rounds of ammunition collected during the 2003 gun amnesty have been successfully disposed of.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 26 February 2007
	During the firearms amnesty in 2003, over one million rounds of ammunition were handed in to police in England and Wales.
	The Home Office issued guidance to forces on the destruction of items handed in during the amnesty.The guidance advised forces that all firearms and ammunition should be destroyed in accordance with current force policy, other than those items considered to be of exceptional historic or forensic significance (as advised by the Forensic Science Service (FSS)), or items believed to have been used in crime and, after examination by the FSS, retained as part of an ongoing investigation.

Police Patrols

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of their time on average police officers spent  (a) completing paperwork and  (b) on patrol in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 26 January 2007
	Figures for this year and previous years are set out in the tables.
	Time spent on patrol is defined as time visible to the public and available to respond. As soon as an officer on patrol responds to an incident, or carries out any other activity, this ceases to be counted as time on patrol. The measure of time on patrol is therefore not an indicator of total frontline police presence. At the end of March 2006, 63.1 per cent. of police officer time was spent on frontline duties, as measured by the frontline policing measure.
	Policing necessarily requires accurate recording, for example to ensure accountability and guard against abuse of powers, to prepare case files, or to take witness statements. Non-incident paperwork includes that relating to complaints, truancy sweeps, community policing activities, line management activities, and inquiries that do not progress to incident status.
	
		
			  Table A: All Officers 
			  Percentage 
			  Year( 1)  Time spent on incident- related paperwork  Time spent on non incident- related paperwork  Total time spent on paperwork  Time spent on patrol( 2)  Frontline Policing Measure( 3) 
			 2003-04 10.3 9.8 20.1 14.2 62.1 
			 2004-05 9.9 8.5 18.4 15.3 62.6 
			 2005-06 10.8 8.5 19.3 14.0 63.1 
			 (1) Data were not collected before 2003. The information is taken from activity analysis, which is collected by all forces over a two-week period in each year and provides a snapshot of how officers are deployed. (2) Includes officers on foot/car/beat patrol, CID and traffic officers. (3 )Data were not collected before 2003. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Patrol Officers 
			  Percentage 
			  Year( 1)  Time spent on incident-related paperwork  Time spent on non incident-related paperwork  Total time spent on paperwork  Time spent on patrol 
			 2003-04 8.8 10.0 18.8 18.0 
			 2004-05 8.1 8.3 16.4 19.1 
			 2005-06 8.6 7.9 16.5 17.3 
			 (1) Data were not collected before 2003. The information is taken from activity analysis, which is collected by all forces over a two-week period in each year and provides a snapshot of how officers are deployed.

Police: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Cheshire police in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officer strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Cheshire police as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 
			  As at 31 March each year  Police officers 
			 1997 2,046 
			 1998 2,042 
			 1999 2,071 
			 2000 2,011 
			 2001 2,002 
			 2002 2,059 
			 2003 2,119 
			 2004 2,177 
			 2005 2,186 
			 2006 2,174 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items (2) Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave

Police: Manpower

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in each force in England and Wales as at December 2006, broken down by rank.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 28 February 2007
	Data as at December 2006 are not yet available. The most recent published police strength data by rank and police force relates to 31 March 2006 and was published in Table 4 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Police Service Strength in England and Wales (HOSB 13/06). A copy of the table follows.
	In addition, this bulletin is available in the Library of the House and can be downloaded from:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1306.pdf
	
		
			  Table 4: Police officer strength as at 31 March 2006 by police force area, rank and gender, and officers per 100,000 population, England and Wales 
			  Full-time equivalents( 1) 
			   Male ranks 
			  Police force  ACPO rank  Chief Superintendent  Superintendent  Chief Inspector  Inspector  Sergeant  Constable  Total male ranks 
			 Avon and Somerset 4 10 16 33 143 429 2,084 2,719 
			 Bedfordshire 2 4 8 13 50 136 707 920 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 7 14 20 63 195 820 1,120 
			 Cheshire 4 6 14 21 101 289 1,287 1,722 
			 Cleveland 4 6 14 13 76 214 1,034 1,361 
			  
			 Cumbria 3 5 7 15 55 151 690 926 
			 Derbyshire 4 6 13 26 85 264 1,253 1,651 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3 10 19 34 137 455 2,087 2,745 
			 Dorset 3 4 10 26 60 188 909 1,200 
			 Durham 3 6 8 17 79 211 999 1,323 
			  
			 Essex 5 11 17 39 125 389 1,949 2,535 
			 Gloucestershire 4 6 7 22 63 168 739 1,009 
			 Greater Manchester 7 14 51 72 305 921 4,848 6,217 
			 Hampshire 4 7 29 38 157 490 2,136 2,860 
			 Hertfordshire 4 5 13 28 76 212 1,241 1,579 
			  
			 Humberside 4 10 15 27 107 281 1,296 1,740 
			 Kent 5 8 20 39 149 404 2,154 2,779 
			 Lancashire 3 10 17 34 155 481 2,118 2,818 
			 Leicestershire 4 10 14 24 91 263 1,395 1,801 
			 Lincolnshire 3 4 8 11 61 160 744 991 
			  
			 London, City of 3 5 11 18 48 115 495 695 
			 Merseyside 5 13 28 53 189 554 2.598 3,440 
			 Metropolitan police 33 86 213 435 1,492 4,514 17,950 24,722 
			 Norfolk 2 9 8 28 70 218 917 1,252 
			 Northamptonshire 3 6 9 18 58 157 769 1,020 
			  
			 Northumbria 4 12 23 45 171 519 2,462 3,236 
			 North Yorkshire 3 5 13 21 82 229 924 1,277 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 6 16 32 116 325 1,523 2,021 
			 South Yorkshire 5 10 22 37 148 404 1,917 2,543 
			 Staffordshire 4 6 13 29 87 310 1,342 1,791 
			  
			 Suffolk 3 7 9 17 58 155 749 998 
			 Surrey 5 6 21 30 81 260 1,043 1,446 
			 Sussex 5 16 19 39 150 388 1,781 2,398 
			 Thames Valley 2 11 31 40 182 475 2,492 3,233 
			 Warwickshire 4 5 7 16 46 131 598 807 
			  
			 West Mercia 3 9 15 20 101 327 1,366 1,841 
			 West Midlands 6 27 33 44 294 904 4,747 6,056 
			 West Yorkshire 5 16 35 60 237 645 3,310 4,309 
			 Wiltshire 3 7 7 19 61 137 686 920 
			  
			 Dyfed Powys 3 5 11 15 51 175 683 943 
			 Gwent 3 4 10 13 57 208 856 1,151 
			 North Wales 4 6 14 15 73 228 935 1,274 
			 South Wales 4 9 26 49 146 451 1,929 2,614 
			 Total of all 43 forces 189 435 908 1,645 6,135 18,128 82,564 110,003 
			  
			 National Crime Squad (NCS)(3) 0 5 15 41 87 193 621 962 
			 National Crime Intelligence Squad (NCIS) 0 6 8 16 8 18 27 83 
			 Central Service secondments 9 33 52 69 66 97 174 500 
			 British Transport Police 4 11 13 36 107 287 1,669 2,126 
			 Total other services 13 55 88 162 268 595 2,490 3,671 
			  
			 Total police service strength 202 490 996 1,807 6,402 18,723 85,054 113,674 
			 Total police service strength (excluding BTP) 198 479 983 1,771 6,296 18,436 83,385 111,548 
		
	
	
		
			  Full-time equivalents( 1) 
			   Female ranks 
			  Police force  ACPO rank  Chief Superintendent  Superintendent  Chief Inspector  Inspector  Sergeant  Constable  Total female ranks 
			 Avon and Somerset 1 2 3 9 15 60 631 721 
			 Bedfordshire 1 1 1 2 9 24 267 305 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 0 2 4 5 36 281 329 
			 Cheshire 0 0 1 3 15 54 423 496 
			 Cleveland 0 0 0 2 5 30 304 341 
			  
			 Cumbria 1 1 1 2 3 22 308 339 
			 Derbyshire 0 1 2 3 10 32 375 422 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2 0 3 3 25 60 701 795 
			 Dorset 0 0 2 1 10 30 269 311 
			 Durham 0 1 1 1 9 34 347 393 
			  
			 Essex 0 0 4 5 19 79 680 787 
			 Gloucestershire 0 1 1 1 7 24 260 294 
			 Greater Manchester 0 5 4 15 60 189 1.582 1,854 
			 Hampshire 0 0 5 8 26 114 788 940 
			 Hertfordshire 0 1 3 2 13 50 517 587 
			  
			 Humberside 0 0 1 7 7 37 440 492 
			 Kent 0 1 2 10 25 78 753 869 
			 Lancashire 1 1 2 8 27 80 698 817 
			 Leicestershire 0 1 2 3 12 34 424 476 
			 Lincolnshire 0 1 0 3 4 24 213 245 
			  
			 London, City of 0 0 0 3 5 18 154 180 
			 Merseyside 2 0 3 7 31 87 733 863 
			 Metropolitan Police 6 6 16 35 176 673 5,313 6,225 
			 Norfolk 1 1 3 1 9 33 275 323 
			 Northamptonshire 1 0 0 3 10 37 268 318 
			  
			 Northumbria 2 0 4 7 21 76 721 831 
			 North Yorkshire 1 2 2 1 6 42 322 376 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 0 3 2 7 58 420 491 
			 South Yorkshire 0 1 1 6 21 73 661 762 
			 Staffordshire 1 0 1 2 9 45 452 511 
			  
			 Suffolk 0 0 1 3 5 24 277 309 
			 Surrey 1 1 1 6 22 62 429 521 
			 Sussex 0 1 2 8 25 69 624 729 
			 Thames Valley 1 1 4 6 32 92 919 1,055 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 1 1 5 8 218 233 
			  
			 West Mercia 1 1 1 7 11 54 470 545 
			 West Midlands 0 1 4 9 57 203 1,861 2,135 
			 West Yorkshire 1 3 1 5 40 108 1,217 1,376 
			 Wiltshire 0 1 0 0 8 25 275 309 
			  
			 Dyfed Powys 0 0 0 0 9 17 225 251 
			 Gwent 0 1 0 2 5 19 288 316 
			 North Wales 0 1 1 0 6 28 324 360 
			 South Wales 1 0 3 6 15 77 587 689 
			 Total of all 43 forces 27 38 92 211 839 3,021 27,293 31,520 
			  
			 National Crime Squad (NCS)(3) 0 0 2 3 6 18 88 117 
			 National Crime Intelligence Squad (NCIS) 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 9 
			 Central Service secondments 1 4 3 11 10 14 34 77 
			 British Transport Police 0 0 1 4 11 30 327 372 
			 Total other services 1 4 6 18 27 66 454 576 
			  
			 Total police service strength 28 42 98 229 865 3,087 27,747 32,096 
			 Total police service strength (excluding BTP) 28 42 97 225 855 3,057 27,420 31,723 
		
	
	
		
			  Full-time equivalents( 1) 
			  Police force  Total police ranks  Total officers per 100,000 population( 2)  Total constables  Constables per 100,000 population 
			 Avon and Somerset 3,439 226 2,715 179 
			 Bedfordshire 1,225 213 974 169 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,449 196 1,101 149 
			 Cheshire 2,218 223 1,710 172 
			 Cleveland 1,702 308 1,338 242 
			  
			 Cumbria 1,265 256 999 202 
			 Derbyshire 2,073 212 1,628 166 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3,540 219 2,788 172 
			 Dorset 1,512 216 1,178 168 
			 Durham 1,716 288 1,346 226 
			  
			 Essex 3,322 203 2,630 161 
			 Gloucestershire 1,303 228 999 174 
			 Greater Manchester 8,071 318 6,429 253 
			 Hampshire 3,800 211 2,923 162 
			 Hertfordshire 2,166 208 1,758 169 
			  
			 Humberside 2,232 251 1,736 196 
			 Kent 3,648 227 2,907 181 
			 Lancashire 3,635 253 2,816 196 
			 Leicestershire 2,277 241 1,820 192 
			 Lincolnshire 1,236 183 957 142 
			  
			 London, City of 875 — 649 — 
			 Merseyside 4,302 315 3,331 244 
			 Metropolitan Police 30,948 417 23,263 313 
			 Norfolk 1,575 193 1,191 146 
			 Northamptonshire 1,338 207 1,037 160 
			  
			 Northumbria 4,066 291 3,183 228 
			 North Yorkshire 1,653 216 1,246 163 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,512 243 1,943 188 
			 South Yorkshire 3,305 259 2,578 202 
			 Staffordshire 2,302 219 1,794 171 
			  
			 Suffolk 1,307 191 1,026 150 
			 Surrey 1,967 184 1,472 138 
			 Sussex 3,127 207 2,405 159 
			 Thames Valley 4,288 202 3,411 161 
			 Warwickshire 1,040 198 816 155 
			  
			 West Mercia 2,385 202 1,836 156 
			 West Midlands 8,192 318 6,608 256 
			 West Yorkshire 5,685 270 4,527 215 
			 Wiltshire 1,230 196 962 153 
			  
			 Dyfed Powys 1,194 237 908 180 
			 Gwent 1,467 264 1,144 206 
			 North Wales 1,634 242 1,258 187 
			 South Wales 3,303 271 2,516 207 
			 Total of all 43 forces 141,523 267 109,857 207 
			  
			 National Crime Squad (NCS)(3) 1,079 — 709 — 
			 National Crime Intelligence Squad (NCIS) 92 — 32 — 
			 Central Service secondments 577 — 208 — 
			 British Transport Police 2,499 — 1,995 — 
			 Total other services 4,247 — 2,236 — 
			  
			 Total police service strength 145,770 275 112,801 213 
			 Total police service strength (excluding BTP) 143,271 270 110,806 209 
			 (1) This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Officers per 100,000 population for City of London and Metropolitan police are combined. (3) The Director Generals, Directors and Deputy Directors left NCS to join SOCA before 31 March 2006 and therefore no officers are recorded at ACPO rank as they had already ceased to be police officers.

Police: Pay

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total wage bill for each police force in England and Wales is in 2006-07, broken down into  (a) police officers by rank,  (b) police community support officers and  (c) other police staff.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 28 February 2007
	Data on police pay is included in the annual reports on police finances published by the Chartered Instituteof Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The following tables give CIPFA data. Table A is based on CIPFA Police Statistics 2005-06 (Actuals) and table B on CIPFA Police Statistics 2006-07 (Estimates). Data by rank is not published by CIPFA.
	
		
			  Table A: figures based on CIPFA police statistics actuals 2005-06 
			  £000 
			  Authority name  Police officer salaries  PCSO salaries  Other staff salaries  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset Police Authority 123,393 2,895 48,796 175,084 
			 Bedfordshire Police Authority 47,683 944 19,640 68,267 
			 Cambridgeshire Police Authority 53,758 1,964 22,021 77,743 
			 Cheshire Police Authority 84,414 2,482 29,323 116,219 
			 Cleveland Police Authority 62,414 2,232 16,469 81,115 
			 Corporation of London 42,692 389 10,309 53,390 
			 Cumbria Police Authority 47,959 397 15,766 64,122 
			 Derbyshire Police Authority 80,969 858 26,437 108,264 
			 Devon and Cornwall Police Authority 132,310 1,787 47,240 181,337 
			 Dorset Police Authority 57,552 1,157 22,183 80,892 
			 Durham Police Authority 65,020 1,363 16,279 82,662 
			 Dyfed-Powys Police Authority 46,016 644 14,910 61,570 
			 Essex Police Authority 134,939 3,656 49,088 187,683 
			 Gloucestershire Police Authority 51,152 1,581 17,406 70,139 
			 Greater Manchester Police Authority 315,302 (1)— 97,777 413,079 
			 Gwent Police Authority 57,086 1,642 17,111 75,839 
			 Hampshire Police Authority 149,222 (1)— 59,437 208,659 
			 Hertfordshire Police Authority 83,690 3,159 41,176 128,025 
			 Humberside Police Authority 87,999 431 26,256 114,686 
			 Kent Police Authority 149,033 2,172 62,554 213,759 
			 Lancashire Police Authority 137,487 3,814 40,852 182,153 
			 Leicestershire Police Authority 87,441 2,115 25,285 114,841 
			 Lincolnshire Police Authority 48,178 1,438 16,284 65,900 
			 Merseyside Police Authority 172,834 2,993 51,990 227,817 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,492,990 54,514 465,979 2,013,483 
			 Norfolk Police Authority 62,287 (1)— 29,895 92,182 
			 North Wales Police Authority 64,465 1,793 22,610 88,868 
			 North Yorkshire Police Authority 63,200 1,804 25,226 90,230 
			 Northamptonshire Police Authority 53,164 (1)— 26,721 79,885 
			 Northumbria Police Authority 155,993 2,102 41,733 199,828 
			 Nottinghamshire Police Authority 99,114 2,590 36,083 137,787 
			 South Wales Police Authority 129,569 2,885 35,380 167,834 
			 South Yorkshire Police Authority 133,745 2,947 42,036 178,728 
			 Staffordshire Police Authority 90,446 1,452 30,542 122,440 
			 Suffolk Police Authority 50,349 339 20,612 71,300 
			 Surrey Police Authority 78,674 2,288 42,466 123,428 
			 Sussex Police Authority 122,263 5,021 49,341 176,625 
			 Thames Valley Police Authority 169,091 2,325 71,662 243,078 
			 Warwickshire Police Authority 41,849 1,335 16,065 59,249 
			 West Mercia Police Authority 93,682 1,365 35,108 130,155 
			 West Midlands Police Authority 311,328 5,366 82,296 398,990 
			 West Yorkshire Police Authority 215,132 9,561 73,113 297,806 
			 Wiltshire Police Authority 48,265 963 19,114 68,342 
			 (1) The figure for PCSOs is included in the figure in the column headed "other staff". 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: figures based on CIPFA police statistics estimates 2006-07 
			  £000 
			  Authority name  Police officers salaries  PCSO salaries  Other staff salaries  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset Police Authority 133,804 2,752 52,724 189,280 
			 Bedfordshire Police Authority 48,182 2,224 19,784 70,190 
			 Cambridgeshire Police Authority 54,151 3,104 25,586 82,841 
			 Cheshire Police Authority 85,371 2,409 30,345 118,125 
			 Cleveland Police Authority 66,469 3,061 17,359 86,889 
			 Corporation of London 43,168 393 11,179 54,740 
			 Cumbria Police Authority 48,872 545 17,677 67,094 
			 Derbyshire Police Authority 81,650 1,030 29,978 112,658 
			 Devon and Cornwall Police Authority 135,385 3,841 55,139 194,365 
			 Dorset Police Authority 58,296 1,890 25,500 85,686 
			 Durham Police Authority 65,618 1,767 16,623 84,008 
			 Dyfed-Powys Police Authority 48,230 723 16,456 65,409 
			 Essex Police Authority 137,758 4,898 51,039 193,695 
			 Gloucestershire Police Authority 52,751 2,219 19,066 74,036 
			 Greater Manchester Police Authority 313,365 7,425 97,816 418,606 
			 Gwent Police Authority 58,572 2,430 18,243 79,245 
			 Hampshire Police Authority 134,883 (1)— 52,384 187,267 
			 Hertfordshire Police Authority 88,065 5,035 40,156 133,256 
			 Humberside Police Authority 93,664 3,000 27,207 123,871 
			 Kent Police Authority 182,671 3,882 56,741 243,294 
			 Lancashire Police Authority 140,469 4,075 42,744 187,288 
			 Leicestershire Police Authority 88,986 2,776 27,301 119,063 
			 Lincolnshire Police Authority 49,019 2,114 16,567 67,700 
			 Merseyside Police Authority 181,158 5,534 55,197 241,889 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,501,293 71,987 481,831 2,055,111 
			 Norfolk Police Authority 59,024 2,705 33,292 95,021 
			 North Wales Police Authority 64,312 2,075 20,794 87,181 
			 North Yorkshire Police Authority 65,552 2,225 28,072 95,849 
			 Northamptonshire Police Authority 51,981 487 23,166 75,634 
			 Northumbria Police Authority 156,806 2,102 43,627 202,535 
			 Nottinghamshire Police Authority 99,704 1,313 34,024 135,041 
			 South Wales Police Authority 132,376 3,493 35,970 171,839 
			 South Yorkshire Police Authority 132,923 4,566 38,751 176,240 
			 Staffordshire Police Authority 90,376 1,671 30,578 122,625 
			 Suffolk Police Authority 51,951 1,860 22,185 75,996 
			 Surrey Police Authority 82,239 2,465 48,649 133,353 
			 Sussex Police Authority 124,450 5,882 50,255 180,587 
			 Thames Valley Police Authority 167,487 6,341 75,921 249,749 
			 Warwickshire Police Authority 43,471 1,522 17,375 62,368 
			 West Mercia Police Authority 97,707 2,314 37,190 137,211 
			 West Midlands Police Authority 312,724 6,022 80,097 398,843 
			 West Yorkshire Police Authority 220,187 11,993 78,060 310,240 
			 Wiltshire Police Authority 47,580 797 23,144 71,521 
			 (1) The figure for PCSOs is included in the figure in the column headed "other staff".

Prison Service: Pay

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether funds available for use as performance-related pay are allocated as part of a specific budget item for  (a) HM Prison Service and  (b) individual prison establishments; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No specific allocation is made toeither  (a) HM Prison Service or  (b) individual establishments for use as performance related pay. Any payments of performance related pay are met from the overall allocations to HM Prison Service or individual prison establishments.

Prisons: Management

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports into professional standards issues in HM Prison Service were produced in each of the last six years; what proportion of those reports involved the Metropolitan Police; how many of those reports were published; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Reports into professional standards issues produced between 2000-06 
			  Year report produced  Total number of reports  Number of MET reports 
			 2006 1 1 
			 2005 3 2 
			 2004 0 0 
			 2003 0 0 
			 2002 0 0 
			 2001 0 0 
			 2000 1 0 
			 Total 5 3 
		
	
	Redacted versions of the first four reports and a full version of the fifth report have been published.

Probation Service

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) central departmental and  (b) central National Offender Management Service staff were responsible for the Probation Service in each of the last 10 years.

John Reid: Staffing numbers are detailed in the following table.
	The creation of NOMS in May 2005 has seen a gradual shift in direct probation support from the National Probation Directorate to NOMS HQ. However, although staff working in NOMS HQ deal with the probation service, it is not possible to provide a fully accurate split of responsibilities without incurring disproportionate costs, so no NOMS HQ staff are included in the totals.
	
		
			  Figures for Home Office Core Staff( 1) 
			  Year( 2)  Probation Unit  National Probation Directorate  Total 
			 1997 50 — 50 
			 1998 53 — 53 
			 1999 54 — 54 
			 2000 65 — 65 
			 2001 — 84 84 
			 2002 — 122 122 
			 2003 — 200 200 
			 2004 — 197 197 
			 2005 — 210 210 
			 2006(3) — 133 133 
			 2007(3) — 131 131 
			 (1) Headcount figures as FTE data are not available historically from the personnel archive. (2) Data as at 3 June annually, except for 2007 (as at 31 January 2007). (3) Excludes any staff in NOMS HQ who may be working on probation issues, since attempting to split out the probation element of their work would involve disproportionate costs.

Theft: Northampton

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported cases of theft there were in Northampton North in each year from 1997 to 2007.

Tony McNulty: The area for Northampton North comes within the Northampton Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP).
	CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and available figures for the numbers of recorded offences of total 'theft and handling' are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Table A: Number of offences recorded for Northampton CDRP, 2000-01 to 2001-02 
			   Total theft and handling stolen goods offences 
			 2000-01 10,893 
			 2001-02 10,714 
			  Note: An expanded offence coverage and revised set of counting rules were introduced in April 1998. Figures recorded before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Number of offences recorded for Northampton CDRP, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   Total theft and handling stolen goods offences 
			 2002-03 12,506 
			 2003-04 13,212 
			 2004-05 12,154 
			 2005-06 11,486 
			  Note: Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged 50 to 70 years participated in a breast screening programme in the Peterborough and Stamford hospitals NHS Foundation Trust area in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the format requested due to various mergers of national health service organisations between 1999and 2001.
	However, the following table shows the number of women screened in North and South Peterborough from 2001-02 to 2004-05. It should be noted that women are invited once every three years for screening. The programme invites them on a general practitioner practice basis, so there will inevitably be variations year on year as women in different parts of the locality are invited for screening.
	
		
			  Breast screening programme: number of women screened by North Peterborough and South Peterborough primary care organisations (PCO) as at 31 March each specified year 
			  Primary care organisation  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Peterborough 9,975 9,808 10,868 10,640 
			 North Peterborough PCO 5,114 4,669 5,336 4,992 
			 South Peterborough PCO 4,861 5,139 5,532 5,648 
			  Note: Data prior to 2004-05 re-used with the permission of the Department of Health  Source: KC63 The Information Centre

Breast Cancer: Waiting lists

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is for breast cancer treatment at Maidstone oncology department.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect data centrally on the average wait for breast cancer treatment. We do measure the percentage of breast cancer patients treated within 31 days of diagnosis and within 62 days of urgent general practitioner (GP) referral for suspected cancer. The table shows the latest figures for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells national health service trust:
	
		
			  Cancer waiting times—monitoring the one month wait target from diagnosis to treatment for breast cancer quarter two 2006-07 (July-September) 
			   Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust 
			  Patients treated during the quarter by referral type  
			 GP urgent referrals 47 
			 Other referrals 44 
			 Total number of patients treated during the quarter 91 
			 Percentage compliance with the one month (1 days) rule 100.0 
			 Number of patients treated during the quarter within one month (31 days) of the date of a clinical diagnosis being made by a responsible specialist 91 
			   
			  Number of patients treated during the quarter not treated within one month of the data of the clinical diagnosis being made by a responsible specialist  
			 But treated within 38 days of the date of that same clinical diagnosis 0 
			 But treated between 39 and 48 days of the date of that same clinical diagnosis 0 
			 But treated between 49 and 62 days of the date of that same clinical diagnosis 0 
			 And not treated within 62 days of the date of that same clinical diagnosis 0

Cancelled Operations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the main reasons were for hospitals cancelling heart operations in the latest period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: Specific data is not available, but the main reason is likely to be the need to prioritise emergency admissions over elective admissions. Clinical need takes priority. Cancellations are at their lowest level for five years. Cancellations cause anxiety which can be reduced by good communication between hospital and patient.

Care Homes: Hygiene

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes did not comply with minimum infection control standards in each of the last three years in each region in England.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 2 March 2007
	I am informed by the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the information requested is as shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Performance of care homes against national minimum standards( 1)  for hygiene and infection control by region 
			  As at 31 March 2006 
			   Hygiene and infection control standard not met 
			  Region  Number  Percentage 
			 East Midlands 237 15.7 
			 Eastern 337 19.0 
			 London 382 19.9 
			 North East 163 17.6 
			 North West 369 16.8 
			 South East 714 20.5 
			 South West 463 18.5 
			 West Midlands 620 33.3 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 364 22.0 
			 Total no meeting standard 3,649 20.5 
		
	
	
		
			  As at 31 March 2005 
			   Hygiene and infection control standard not met 
			  Region  Number  Percentage 
			 East Midlands 299 19.1 
			 Eastern 440 24.4 
			 London 476 24.3 
			 North East 200 20.7 
			 North West 490 21.4 
			 South East 823 23.1 
			 South West 581 22.3 
			 West Midlands 752 39.2 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 396 23.2 
			 Total not meeting standard 4,457 24.3 
		
	
	
		
			  As at 31 March 2004 
			   Hygiene and infection control standard not met 
			  Region  Number  Percentage 
			 East Midlands 454 28.8 
			 Eastern 500 28.3 
			 London 599 31.1 
			 North East 235 24.4 
			 North West 699 28.9 
			 South East 931 26.2 
			 South West 747 27.9 
			 West Midlands 851 43.3 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 523 30.0 
			 Total not meeting standard 5,539 29.8 
			  Notes: 1. The national minimum standards (NMS) referred to are: Standard 26: NMS—care homes for older people. Standard 30: NMS—care homes for adults aged 18 to 65. 2. The figures and percentages shown are for all care homes. 
		
	
	Where it is considered that standards on infection control have not been met and that a regulation has been breached, CSCI may require the situation to be remedied within a set time. If there is no acceptable response to a warning letter, or if it is considered that there is a serious risk to service users, CSCI may consider issuing a statutory requirement notice. The notice clearly states what legal requirement is unmet, the corrective action which must be taken and stipulates the date—which will be no more than three months hence—by which the requirement must be met.
	To ensure requirements are complied with, CSCI has an escalating tariff of enforcement options. These are included in its enforcement guidance, which is published on the CSCI website at:
	www.csci.org.uk/care_professional/service__providers/guidance/guidance_for_all_service_provi/new__enforcement_policy_now__ava.aspx

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to implement the Race Equality Duty since 2000.

Rosie Winterton: The Departments Single Equality Scheme, published in December 2006 sets out the way in which the Department intends to meet its duties under the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Sex Discrimination Act as amended by the Equality Act 2006. The Department will also progress action on Religion or Belief, Sexual Orientation and Age. This Scheme updates and replaces the Department's Race Equality Scheme.
	In addition, the Department has undertaken a number of activities to promote equality and diversity in the national health service and particularly to support the NHS meet its responsibilities under the various equalities legislation on race, disability and gender as well as regulations on age, religion and belief and sexual orientation. These include:
	delivering Race Equality in mental health care—an action plan for reform of NHS mental health services, working towards equality of access, equality of experience and equality of outcome for all mental health service users.
	the race for health programme—primary care trust (PCT)-led with support from the Department. It convenes a network of 13 PCTs around the country, working in partnership with local black and minority ethnic communities to improve health, modernise services, increase choice and create greater diversity within the NHS workforce.
	developing and publishing 'Promoting Equality and Human Rights in the NHS—a Guide for Board Member' aimed at helping non-executive board members take forward the issues of equality and human rights with regard to patients and the workforce.
	the Leadership and race equality action plan was launched in 2004 to give greater prominence to race equality in the NHS as part of the drive to improve health.

Diabetes

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what total expenditure by the NHS on diabetes was in each year since 2000-01.

Rosie Winterton: The figures are not available in the format requested. The report by Derek Wanless, "Securing good health for the whole population: Final report—February 2004", states that the total cost to the national health service of treating diabetes is£1.3 billion per year.

Diabetes

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people with  (a) type 1 and  (b) type 2 diabetes in each year since 1997; how many finished episodes of care relating to the treatment of diabetes there have been in each year since 1997; what estimate she has made of the number of patients who will have each type of diabetes in 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of people with diabetes is not collected centrally in the form requested.
	The number of patients diagnosed with diabetes identified by general practitioner (GP) practices in England in 2004-05 was 1.76 million people(1). Figures are not available for type 1 and type 2 diabetes separately.
	The number of patients diagnosed with diabetes identified by GP practices in England in 2005-06 was 1.89 million people(2). It is estimated that approximately 25 per cent. of people who have diabetes are currently undiagnosed, and so the actual number of people with the condition is likely to be significantly higher, perhaps over 2.3 million. Figures are not available for type one and type 2 diabetes separately.
	Projections suggest that in England, around 2.6 million people will have diabetes by 2010(3).
	 Sources
	(1) 2004-2005 quality and outcomes framework data published by the Health and Social Care information centre. This is the first year of data from this source.
	(2) 2005-06 quality and outcomes framework data published by the Health and Social Care information centre.
	(3) PBS diabetes prevalence model.
	
		
			  All diagnoses and primary diagnoses counts of finished consultant episodes for diabetes—NHS hospitals, England: 1997-98 to 2005-06 
			   All diagnoses count of finished consultant episodes 
			 1997-98 413,340 
			 1998-99 454,632 
			 1999-2000 498,179 
			 2000-01 543,867 
			 2001-02 585,770 
			 2002-03 667,352 
			 2003-04 731,708 
			 2004-05 829,160 
			 2005-06 948,980 
			  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Health and Social Care Information Centre

Executive Agencies

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which executive agencies are the responsibility of her Department; what the function is of each agency; and what the budget was of each agency in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has two Executive agencies.
	 The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA):
	The function of MHRA is to enhance and safeguard the health of the public by ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe. They regulate a wide range of materials from medicines and medical devices to blood and therapeutic products/services that are derived from tissue engineering.
	MHRA operate as a trading fund and the costs of medicines regulations are met by fees charged to the pharmaceutical industry. Their income therefore depends on the demand for licenses for medicines. The devices function is funded by the Department.
	The net operating cost for 2005-06 was £21.594 million
	 Source:
	MHRA annual report
	 The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA):
	The role of the agency is to act as a centre of expertise, knowledge and excellence in purchasing and supply matters for the health service.
	The net operating cost for 2005-06 was £26.779 million.
	 Source:
	PASA annual report

Health Services: Suffolk

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the staff vacancy rate at the new Suffolk Primary Care Trust is  (a) as a percentage of all staff and  (b) broken down by occupation.

Andy Burnham: As Suffolk primary care trust came into existence only on 1 October 2006 information as to the vacancy rates are not currently available.

Hospital Beds: Greater London

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds were available at  (a) St. George's hospital, Tooting,  (b) Queen Mary's hospital, Roehampton,  (c) Kingston hospital, Kingston,  (d) Hammersmith hospital, Hammersmith,  (e) Charing Cross hospital, Hammersmith and  (f) Chelsea and Westminster hospital in each year since 2000; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The information is not held in the requested format. However, the following table shows the data as held at national health service trust level.
	
		
			  Average daily number of available beds, selected NHS organisations in London, 1999-2000 to 2005-06 
			  Trust name  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Chelsea And Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 456 481 509 509 503 449 462 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 1,128 1,056 1,021 1,021 1,037 1,071 945 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 562 575 590 576 585 599 596 
			 South West London Community NHS Trust 387 367 369 — — — — 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 1,002 984 990 983 1,000 957 906 
			 Wandsworth PCT — — — 92 88 85 95 
			  Note:  At the end of 2001-02 South West London Community NHS Trust split to form parts of Wandsworth Primary Care Trust and Richmond and Twickenham Primary Care Trust  Source:  Department of Health dataset KH03

NHS Homeopathic Hospitals

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, columns 57-8W, whether the Government's commitment to patient choice will enable patients to choose homeopathy from a local NHS homeopathic clinic or NHS homeopathic hospital.

Caroline Flint: The Government consider that decision-making on individual clinical interventions, whether conventional, or complementary alternative treatments, have to be a matter for local national health service providers and practitioners as they are best placed to know their community's needs. In making such decisions, they have to take into account evidence for the safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness of any treatments, the availability of suitably qualified practitioners, and the needs of the individual patient. Clinical responsibility rests with the NHS professional who makes the decision to refer and who must therefore be able to justify any treatment they recommend. If they are unconvinced about the suitability of a particular treatment, they cannot be made to refer. Decisions on spending on any complementary and alternative medicine treatments are therefore the responsibility of the NHS.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have used NHS walk-in centres in the West Midlands since they first opened, broken down by centre.

Andy Burnham: Information on patient attendances at national health service walk-in centres in the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area is set out in the following table. From 2000 when the first NHS walk-in centre opened, data were collected on activity at each centre. Since March 2003, data has however been collected at primary care trust (PCT) or NHS trust level. The Department is not aware that any of the PCTs in West Midlands has more than one NHS walk-in centre within its area but walk-in services are commissioned locally and returns to the Department may therefore include other local walk-in service activity in addition to information on the centres listed in the table.
	
		
			  West Midlands SHA: NHS walk-in centre activity 
			  NHS walk-in centre/PCT or NHS trust  NHS walk-in centre opening date  Total attendances to December 2006 
			 Birmingham City/Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 27 March 2000 235,120 
			 Coventry/Coventry Teaching PCT 11 December 2000 220,758 
			 Stoke on Trent( Haywood)/University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 12 June 2000 212,125 
			 Walsall/Walsall Teaching PCT 28 February 2001 160,373 
			 Rugby/ Warwickshire PCT 10 May 2006 2,887 
			 Wolverhampton/Wolverhampton City PCT 1 January 2007 0

NHS: Finance

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total expenditure was on  (a) the NHS,  (b) NHS hospital and community health services and  (c) NHS maternity services in each year since 1997.

Andy Burnham: The following table reports, from 1997-98 to 2005-06, the total expenditure on the national health service, NHS hospital and community health services (HCHS) and NHS maternity services.
	
		
			  Expenditure 
			  £ million 
			   NHS  HCHS  Maternity services 
			 1997-98 33,575 22,824 1,044 
			 1998-99 35,801 24,382 1,096 
			 1999-2000 39,293 26,119 1,156 
			 2000-01 42,686 28,774 1,258 
			 2001-02 47,289 32,190 1,325 
			 2002-03 51,935 33,214 1,257 
			 2003-04 61,583 36,364 1,350 
			 2004-05 66,473 42,932 1,547 
			 2005-06 73,697 46,399 1,672 
			  Notes: 1. NHS expenditure is the total NHS net revenue expenditure. NHS expenditure is a on a cash basis pre 1999-2000 (inclusive) and a resource basis post 1999-2000. Resource budgeting was introduced in two stages. Phase one (2000-01 to 2002-03) included debtors and creditors, and phase two (2003-04 onwards) applies full resource budgeting. 2. NHS expenditure figures include a technical adjustment from 2003-04 for trust depreciation. 3. The HCHS and maternity expenditure does not include spending on family health services and primary care prescribing. HCHS and maternity services expenditure are derived from summarised accounts on commissioning expenditure and the HCHS figures include purchase of healthcare from non-NHS providers. 4. Changes to accounting practices and a number of technical adjustments means that the data over time periods are not strictly comparable.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total overall funding allocation to primary care trusts was in each year since 2002-03; and what proportion of the total NHS budget this represented in each year.

Andy Burnham: The information requested has been set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Total national health service expenditure (£ million)  Primary care trust revenue resource limit( 1)  Allocation as a proportion of total NHS budget (percentage) 
			 2002-03 (2)58,566 44,916 77 
			 2003-04 64,184 49,042 76 
			 2004-05 69,308 57,442 83 
			 2005-06 76,339 62,275 82 
			 (1) PCT consolidated accounts. (2) 2002-03 expenditure has been represented on a consistent stage two resource accounting basis as subsequent years.

Primary Health Care

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what strategy her Department has in place to deliver secondary care services in primary care  (a) in Bedfordshire and  (b) in England; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps her Department is taking to ensure doctors' surgeries and general practices can undertake the shift in patient services from the secondary sector to primary care; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: How services are delivered locally is a matter for practice based commissioners in collaboration with primary care trusts and local people to decide; there is therefore no centrally driven strategy to deliver secondary care services in primary care in Bedfordshire.
	However as we set out in 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: a new direction for community services' it is our aim for more services to be provided in settings that are convenient for patients and there are a number of mechanisms in place to facilitate this including:
	a £750 million capital investment fund to support the development of more community hospitals and facilities to deliver care closer to peoples homes;
	the opportunity for primary care practitioners through practice based commissioning to decide what services should be commissioned locally and to provide more services themselves; and
	new advice about commissioning services from accredited practitioners with special interests.
	In addition in the summer we will be publishing a report about how services in six speciality areas can be delivered in settings that are more convenient for patients—this report will be based on existing practice in shifting care.

Public Health Improvement

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what campaigns her Department has run to improve public health since May 1997; what the cost was of each; and what assessment she has made of the impact on the relevant health indicators in the following year in each case.

Caroline Flint: The following table outlines the cost of departmental campaigns undertaken to improve public health since May 1997.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Campaign  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Antibiotics — 0.27 1.25 — 0.78 0.59 1.02 — 0.39 
			 CALM 0.49 0.12 0.51 0.64 0.38 0.58 0.43 0.44 0.32 
			 Drugs (1) — — — — — — 1.75 2.62 3.26 
			 Flu 0.23 0.28 0.08 4.32 1.45 2.40 1.95 2.25 2.32 
			 Hepatitis C — — — — — — 0.15 0.70 1.28 
			 Immunisation — — — — 1.67 2.36 3.63 3.10 1.35 
			 Mental health, Mind Out — — — — 0.97 1.01 1.62 — — 
			 Sexwise/teenage pregnancy 0.79 0.85 1.23 3.85 2.44 1.97 2.15 — — 
			 Sexual Health — — — — 0.30 1.50 1.60 1.27 0.62 
			 Smoking — — 15.50 13.73 12.30 11.56 23.41 26.50 30.50 
			 TB awareness — — — — 0.30 0.09 0.01 0.20 — 
			 5 A DAY — — — 0.50 0.50 0.48 1.03 0.90 0.92 
			 (1) Departmental contribution to the Frank substance misuse campaign is jointly funded by the Department, Home Office (HO) and Department for Education and Skills (DfES) 
		
	
	Each campaign is only one of a number of interventions in the drive to improve public health. It is not possible to separate the impact of these campaigns from that of other interventions or factors which may have influenced public behaviour over the period in question.
	 Antibiotics
	As a result of an increase in the number of strains of bacteria developing resistance the Department launched a publicity campaign, aimed at health professionals and the general public, in 1999-2000 to encourage sensible prescribing and use of antibiotics.
	The ongoing publicity campaigns inform the public not to routinely expect antibiotics for coughs and colds as antibiotics only work on bacterial infections, and not on most coughs and colds or viral infections. As well as posters and leaflets we also provided general practitioners with pads of non-prescription forms that could be given to patients explaining why the doctor was not prescribing an antibiotic.
	Evaluations have shown that the public has understood the key messages and we believe that they will have contributed to the decrease in antibiotic prescribing in the community.
	 Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
	The suicide rate in young men is coming down but we do not have direct evidence of the effect or influence of the CALM campaign on that reduction.
	This Department campaign came to and end on 31 March 2006. From 1 April 2006 CALM became a charity, not sponsored by the Department.
	 Drugs
	The FRANK drugs information campaign funded jointly by the Department, the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs targets young people aged 11 to 21 years, particularly vulnerable young people, and the parents or carers of 11-18 year olds. It provides a gateway for information and advice about the effects and risks of drugs, local treatment services and drugs and the law.
	The campaign contributes towards the Department's public service agreement (PSA) target to increase the participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 100 per cent. by 2008 (from 1998) and increase year on year the proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes.
	The PSA target was exceeded in 2005-06 with 181,390 users going in to treatment. The FRANK campaign is now placing particular emphasis on meeting the needs of vulnerable young people as well as supporting a wider programme of activity in support of the joint DfES/Home Office target to reduce the numbers of young people using drugs.
	In the two years to April 2006 the talk to FRANK campaign website received over 10 million hits with 500,000 hits to its treatment pages. Over the same period the FRANK helpline received 1.6 million calls and answered 107,000 emails. The helpline has directed over 45,000 young people to treatment services.
	 Flu
	The seasonal influenza campaign in the United Kingdom has made considerable progress in increasing the coverage of the at-risk and target population, set against the World Health Organisation 2010 target of 75 per cent. The UK has already achieved this target and among European countries is one of the highest achievers.
	 Hepatitis C awareness campaign (FaCe It)
	One of the main aims of the hepatitis C awareness campaign (FaCe It) is to increase diagnosis and there are two national outcome indicators, drawn from epidemiological surveillance by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), intended to track this.
	The first indicator is the total number of laboratory confirmed hepatitis C infection reports. There has been a significant increase in hepatitis C diagnoses in England reported to the HPA through national surveillance from around 5,600 in 2002 to around 7,600 in 2005.
	The second indicator is the proportion of injecting drug users attending treatment and support agencies who are aware of their hepatitis C infection. The proportion of are aware of their hepatitis C infection has increased from 42 per cent. in 2002 to 52 per cent. in 2005.
	Research into awareness among general practitioners/practices nurses and the public indicates that awareness of hepatitis C has increased since the campaign began.
	 Immunisation programme
	The routine immunisation programme in the UK aims to protect all babies and children from the age of two months onwards. The serious diseases that the programme protects against include—Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough (pertussis), Hib ( Haemophilus influenzae type b), Polio, Meningitis C, Pneumococcal infection, measles, mumps, rubella.
	The impact of advertising and other communication materials are regularly monitored through public surveys involving around 2,000 parents each year. From this we know that more than 70 per cent. of parents use our printed material and that recall of TV advertising is high. Health professionals have a high awareness of, and positive reactions to, the Department/Immunisation Information materials available.
	 Mind out for mental health
	In March 2001, the Department launched a national campaign, "mind out for mental health", aimed at tackling the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems. The campaign was aimed at key groups such as employers, the media and young people; as well as the public in general, to help raise awareness of mental health issues and put an end to stigma and discrimination. This campaign came to an end on 31 March 2004. We believe the campaign has been a positive presence but do not have direct evidence of any impact on health indicators.
	 Teenage pregnancy
	Work around reducing teenage pregnancy is based on a number of different strands, one of which is the national campaigning work. It is therefore impossible to separate out these strands when it comes to assessing the overall effectiveness of the work.
	Teenage pregnancy rates are falling. Between the 1998 baseline year and 2004 (the latest year for which data are available) the under-18 conception rate has fallen by 11.1 per cent, and the under-16 rate has fallen by 15.2 per cent. Both rates are now at their lowest level for 20 years.
	 Sexual health
	Evaluation of the sex lottery campaign December 2002 to December 2004, focused primarily on campaign recognition, perceptions about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and condom usage.
	In terms of awareness of advertising about STIs, non-promoted awareness increased from 35 per cent. at the start to 53 per cent. by the end of the campaign.
	In addition, there were some significant shifts in attitudes to STIs throughout the life of the campaign in particular in terms of potential risk (the risk of getting an STI has increased—more than 11 per cent.) and in terms of protection (It does not matter how many partners someone has as long as they are careful, i.e. use a condom—more than 9 per cent).
	These changes in attitude are being built on as part of the new adult sexual health campaign, condom essential wear, which was launched in November 2006. Based on social marketing principles the new campaign aims to bring about positive behavioural change in regards sexual health.
	Behavioural change takes time and will therefore need to be measured over a number of years. Attitudes and behavioural indicators were benchmarked in November 2006 and the fieldwork for the first phase of campaign evaluation is due to commence in early March 2007.
	 Smoking
	A comprehensive strategy to tackle smoking and to reduce the deaths caused by smoking has been in place since publication of "Smoking Kills" in 1998. The strategy focuses on action to discourage people from starting to smoke and to provide support for all smokers, of whatever age and sex, who wish to quit. We are aiming to create a climate where non-smoking is the norm.
	We have banned almost all tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; introduced strong tobacco pack health warnings; from December 1999 run highly effective national anti-smoking education campaigns raising awareness of the health damage of smoking and secondhand smoke. People who wish to give up smoking can get help from the national health service stop smoking—a world leading programme we set up.
	In 2006, Parliament passed the Health Act which includes provision for the prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces. This will mean every pub, club, membership club, cafe, restaurant, shopping centre, office and public and work transport will become smoke-free on Sunday 1 July 2007, when the legislation is implemented.
	The Government's strategy has helped reduce smoking rates in England from 28 per cent. in 1998 to 24 per cent. in terms of 2005 populations, the latest year for which figures are available, meaning around 1.6 million fewer smokers in England. These are the lowest smoking rates in England on record and indicate that the Government is on track to meet the PSA target of 21 per cent. or lower smoking prevalence in 2010.
	 Tuberculosis
	No research has been undertaken into the effectiveness of this campaign.
	5 A DAY
	DEFRA's annual Household Expenditure Survey for 2005-06 (published in January 2007) recorded the biggest increase in fruit and vegetables purchases (7.7 per cent.) for over 20 years. This was aligned to a 6 per cent. decrease in confectionery sales.
	The Food Standards Agency Consumer Attitudes Survey 2005 showed that 67 per cent. of people are now aware that they should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, up from 43 per cent. in 2000.
	The 5 A DAY logo was launched by Department on 25 March 2003 and over 550 organisations are licensed to use it. The 5 A DAY logo now appears on over 700 fruit and vegetable products in shops and restaurants.

Tuberculosis: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of tuberculosis there were in each London borough in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Cases of tuberculosis in each London borough in 2005 
			  Local authority  Number of case reports 
			 Barking and Dagenham 59 
			 Barnet 116 
			 Bexley 22 
			 Brent 285 
			 Bromley 30 
			 Camden 106 
			 City of London 2 
			 Croydon 114 
			 Ealing 240 
			 Enfield 103 
			 Greenwich 87 
			 Hackney 133 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 133 
			 Haringey 90 
			 Harrow 133 
			 Havering 30 
			 Hillingdon 137 
			 Hounslow 167 
			 Islington 83 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 46 
			 Kingston 27 
			 Lambeth 145 
			 Lewisham 99 
			 Merton 63 
			 Newham 259 
			 Redbridge 120 
			 Richmond upon Thames 19 
			 Southwark 141 
			 Button 24 
			 Tower Hamlets 129 
			 Waltham Forest 116 
			 Wandsworth 124 
			 Westminster, City of 97 
			 Total 3,479 
			  Note: Data as at 19 February 2007. 2006 data are not yet available.  Source: Health Protection Agency enhanced tuberculosis surveillance.